The price of a single Bitcoin surged to over $100,000 just hours after Donald Trump nominated a crypto advocate to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The oldest and most popular cryptocurrency crossed the six-figure threshold for the first time on Wednesday following the president-elect’s announcement that he’d tagged Paul Atkins to lead the SEC in his second term. Trump took credit for the price jump on Truth Social.
“CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!!” he wrote. “YOU’RE WELCOME!!!”
Atkins is a former SEC commissioner and the CEO of a company that consults for cryptocurrency industries. The pick signals a change of heart for Trump, who once denounced crypto as a “scam.”
Trump launched his own crypto concern in October and said on the campaign trail that he hoped to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world.”
Trump’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial, would benefit if his administration deregulates the crypto industry.
As of Thursday afternoon, the famously volatile Bitcoin has dropped below $100,000. The coin is still trading more than $20,000 higher than it was in June of this year.
