Crypto Has an Ally in the White House. What's Ahead for Digital Currencies in 2025

Crypto die-hards are anticipating a golden age for digital assets under President-elect Donald Trump.

- Krystal Hur

That has helped fuel a blistering run in bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency. The price of bitcoin breached $100,000 for the first time in December and has more than doubled in 2024. It recently traded around $94,448.

Smaller tokens including ether and solana have also jumped.

Some enthusiasts believe that the monster rally is just getting started. Here's what you should know about bitcoin's wild run:

1. Trump has made big crypto promises

The president-elect has promised to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet." On the campaign trail, he positioned himself as a champion of digital assets and their devotees. He pledged to draft regulations that treat crypto differently from the way stocks and bonds are treated and to create a strategic bitcoin reserve to hold the nation's supply.

Trump launched a crypto project with his family, courted the votes and money of industry bigwigs and even bought burgers for patrons at a New York bitcoin-themed dive bar.

"We're going to do something great with crypto," Trump told the Wall Street Journal this month after ringing the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell.

"Others are embracing it, and we want to be ahead."

The president-elect hasn't always supported digital assets. He previously said they are based on "thin air" and called bitcoin a "scam against the dollar." In 2022, he changed his stance and launched his own line of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, which are crypto's version of trading cards.

2. Crypto allies are filling top government posts

Trump has picked many crypto allies for senior positions in his administration.