Bitcoin tops US$100k, buoyed by Trump's pro-crypto pick for SEC

Price more than doubles in 2024 to reach historic high, with big investors driving rally

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NEW YORK - Bitcoin catapulted above US$100,000 for the first time on Dec 5, a milestone hailed even by skeptics as a coming-of-age for cryptocurrencies as investors bet on a friendly Trump administration to cement crypto's place in financial markets.

It has more than doubled in value in 2024 and is up more than 50 percent in the four weeks since Donald Trump's sweeping victory in the US presidential election on Nov 5.

Once it broke US$100,000 in early Asian trading on Dec 5, it was soon above US$103,000 on its way to an all-time high of US$103,619, a surge of about 6 percent on the day. It was last fetching US$101,933.

"Bitcoin crossing US$100,000 is more than just a milestone; it's a testament to shifting tides in finance, technology and geopolitics," said Hong Kong-based independent crypto analyst Justin D'Anethan. "The figure not that long ago dismissed as fantasy, stands as a reality."

The total value of the cryptocurrency market has almost doubled over the year so far to hit a record just shy of US$3.8 trillion (S$5.1 trillion), according to data provider CoinGecko.

By comparison, Apple alone is worth about US$3.7 trillion.

Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the US the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of Bitcoin.