Bitcoin surpassed a price of $100,000 per coin on Wednesday night, as the cryptocurrency speeds through a streak of record highs, making as much as 6.1 percent rise on Thursday, to $103,800.
This marks over 50 percent increase since November 5, when the price hovered around $70,000 per coin, following the victory of Donald Trump in the United States presidential election.
The milestone came after Trump, on Wednesday, announced he will nominate Paul Atkins, a former federal regulator, who now advises financial firms and cryptocurrency companies, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trump, who vowed to make the US “the bitcoin superpower of the world”, has nominated several crypto enthusiasts to top roles, including Howard Lutnick, to run the commerce department and Elon Musk, to co-head a cost-saving effort dubbed the “department of government efficiency”.
US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome H. Powell, on Wednesday, compared the digital asset to gold at the New York Times DealBook Summit, saying, “People use bitcoin as a speculative asset. It’s like gold, it’s just like gold, only it’s virtual, it’s digital. People are not using it as a form of payment or a store of value. It’s highly volatile. It’s not a competitor for the dollar; it’s really a competitor for gold.”
