Bitcoin climbs closer to $100,000

London: Bitcoin's march toward $100,000 gathered pace on Thursday, as expectations mounted for a friendlier US regulatory approach under President-elect Donald Trump, marking a stunning rebound for an asset many investors still regard with scepticism.

The bitcoin price topped $98,000 for the first time during European trading and was last up around 2.4% at $96,779.

Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year and is up about 40% in the two weeks since Trump was voted in as the next US president and a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers were elected to Congress.


Over 16 years after its creation, bitcoin appears on the cusp of mainstream acceptance.

"Everyone who's bought bitcoin at any point in history is currently in profit," Alicia Kao, managing director of crypto exchange KuCoin, said.

"But those who bought it early, when there were significant obstacles to doing so and there was the might of the world's financial and governmental forces intent on crushing it, are the real winners. Not because they're rich, but because they're right."

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

Bitcoin's rebound from a slide below $16,000 in late 2022 has been rapid, boosted by the approval of U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January this year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission had long attempted to block ETFs from investing in bitcoin, citing investor protection concerns, but the products have allowed more investors, including institutional investors, to gain exposure to bitcoin.

More than $4 billion has streamed into U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds since the election.