By Ankur Banerjee and Samuel Indyk LONDON (Reuters) -Bitcoin soared to a record high above $82,000 on Monday on expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom in a favourable regulatory environment following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and of pro-crypto candidates to Congress. The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has now more than doubled […]
By Ankur Banerjee and Samuel Indyk
LONDON (Reuters) -Bitcoin soared to a record high above $82,000 on Monday on expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom in a favourable regulatory environment following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and of pro-crypto candidates to Congress.
The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has now more than doubled from the year’s low of $38,505 and was last at $82,236, having earlier touched a record high of $82,527.
Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.
“Bitcoin’s Trump-pump is alive and well… with Republicans on the cusp of taking the house to confirm a red wave in Congress, it seems the crypto crowd are betting on digital-currency deregulation,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, referring to Republican control of both houses.
While Simpson warned that Trump’s near-term priorities are likely to lie elsewhere, crypto investors see an end to stepped-up scrutiny under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler whom Trump has said he will fire.
The cryptocurrency industry spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates, many of whom won their races.
In Ohio, one of the crypto industry’s biggest foes in Congress – Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown – was ousted, while pro-crypto candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties won in Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, Alabama and North Carolina.
Trump also unveiled a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial, in September. Although details about the business have been scarce, investors have taken his personal interest in the sector as a friendly signal.
Billionaire Elon Musk , a major Trump ally, is also a proponent of cryptocurrencies.
Eric Trump, one of the president-elect’s sons and executive vice president of his private conglomerate, The Trump Organization, is a keynote speaker at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi next month, according to the event organisers.
The incoming Trump administration may lead to expedited regulatory clarity, enhanced institutional participation, improved market infrastructure , and broader mainstream adoption,” Deutsche Bank research analyst Marion Laboure said.
“Trump’s pragmatic approach marks a clear departure from recent regulatory restrictions.”
Flows into cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have also picked up since Trump’s election win.
On Thursday, Nov. 7, bitcoin ETFs experienced their largest inflows on record, drawing a net $1.38 billion, according to data from Citigroup.
“There have been significant inflows across the board,” Citi analysts said in a note.
ETF inflows have been the dominant driver of Bitcoin returns, and we expect this to continue in the near-term,” they added.
Gains in cryptocurrencies have been broad. Ether rose above $3,200 for the first time in over three months over the weekend and was last fetching $3,182. Dogecoin, an alternative cryptocurrency that began as a satirical critique of the 2013 crypto frenzy, was at a three-year high.
U.S.-listed cryptocurrency stocks surged in premarket trading with crypto exchange Coinbase Global jumping more than 16%, and iShares Bitcoin Trust up 7.3%.
Crypto miner Riot Platforms surged over 10%, while MicroStrategy, one of bitcoin’s biggest corporate backers, gained 11.3%.
Deutsche Bank’s Laboure also expects rate cuts from the Federal Reserve to create a supportive environment for the cryptocurrency market .
(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee , Tom Westbrook and Samuel Indyk, additional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Edwina Gibbs and Andrew Heavens)
