The price of bitcoin has risen above $87,000 for the first time as it benefited from traders’ hopes that Donald Trump will favour cryptocurrencies when he returns to the White House.
Bitcoin reached a record high of $87,198, before slipping back slightly on Monday. The price has more than doubled from about $37,000 12 months ago.
The election has also affected traditional currency markets, individual stocks – most notably Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla – and broad US equity markets, as investors bet on deregulation and tax cuts from Trump.
Trump has in the past called bitcoin a “scam against the dollar”, but he changed his tune on cryptocurrency during the US presidential election campaign, courting the crypto community and appearing at industry events. That has created an expectation of a relaxation of rules to make it easier for retail savers to invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – although Trump has not specified any policies. [Read more…]
