Bitcoin traded above $100,000 for the first time, reaching a new symbolic threshold after a sharp rally following the US election. The cryptocurrency had risen more than 45% since November 5 and more than doubled during 2024, according to NBC News.
The milestone came as investors anticipated a more accommodating federal approach to digital assets under President-elect Donald Trump. Crypto-friendly candidates won races in the election, and Trump had pledged during his campaign to make the United States a leading center for the industry. He had also expressed interest in a national bitcoin reserve modeled on strategic holdings of commodities such as gold and oil.
Trump's selection of officials viewed as supportive of cryptocurrency added to market expectations that regulation and enforcement would change after he took office in January. CNN linked the move through $100,000 to those personnel announcements, while NBC described the broader rally as demand connected to the election outcome. Expectations of policy change can influence prices, but the evidence did not establish a single cause for the rise.
Another source of demand was the growth of exchange-traded funds that track bitcoin's price. These products allow investors to gain exposure through familiar financial-market accounts without directly holding the digital asset. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, launched in January, had grown to more than $45 billion, according to Jay Jacobs, BlackRock's US head of thematic and active ETFs. He said its value had increased by $4.1 billion in the preceding month.
Advocates argued that wider access through ETFs and interest from wealth managers and institutions were moving bitcoin closer to mainstream investment use. Some investors also viewed it as a potential hedge against geopolitical instability or currency depreciation. Those interpretations coexist with substantial risks.
Bitcoin remains highly volatile, meaning a record price does not remove the possibility of rapid losses. The wider cryptocurrency sector has also been associated with fraud and cybercrime; the FBI attributed billions of dollars in consumer losses to crypto-related scams in the previous year. Those concerns had helped produce a skeptical approach among federal regulators before the election.
Bitcoin began 15 years earlier with a short paper published under the name Satoshi Nakamoto, whose identity remains unknown. Its advance into six-figure territory showed how far the asset had moved into established markets, but it did not settle arguments over valuation, regulation or consumer protection. The verified event was a price threshold: for the first time, one bitcoin changed hands for more than $100,000.
