Bitcoin surges the $100,000 mark for first time in its history

For the first time in history, as demand for the cryptocurrency surged following the election of Donald Trump and other crypto-friendly lawmakers in the US election, Bitcoin’s price has hit the $100,000 mark.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency is currently valued at close to $103,000, having risen over 7 per cent in the last 24 hours. This comes in the wake of the president-elect announcing plans to nominate pro-crypto businessperson Paul Atkins to chair the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC oversees US securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading a government crackdown on the crypto industry.

“Mr Atkins, the chief of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, is a “proven leader for common sense regulations,” Mr Trump said on Wednesday.

Bitcoin’s value has more than doubled since the beginning of this year and has surged by over 45 per cent since 5 November. In the lead-up to the US elections, Trump had pledged to create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin.

He promised to end what he called the “persecution” of the crypto industry and build the US into the “bitcoin superpower of the world”.

The US president-elect even floated the idea of using bitcoin to “pay off the $35 trillion” US national debt in August.