Bitcoin's record-setting run in the wake of President-elect Trump's election victory continued on Monday as the cryptocurrency surged past $84,000 to a new all-time high.
Bitcoin prices rose from under $80,500 to a new record of more than $84,500 and have risen over 17% since Nov. 6, when Trump sealed his return to the White House by defeating Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris.
Prices had risen on Election Day as traders bet that the winner would adopt a more favorable regulatory approach to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as both Trump and Harris pledged to support the emerging market.
"Bitcoin speculators are betting on a more clement regulatory environment and have expectations that the authorities may build up a reserve crypto fund, helping lift ongoing demand," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
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Investors betting against the world's largest bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, have lost nearly $37 million since Election Day.
During his campaign, Trump embraced crypto and said that he wants to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet" and the "bitcoin superpower of the world."
He also said he would replace Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who has carried out a regulatory crackdown on the digital assets industry in an effort to root out bad actors. By law, Trump can only remove Gensler as the SEC's chair, and he would be able to continue serving as a commissioner until his term expires in June 2026.
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Trump also said he would establish a crypto advisory board and that his administration would have a more favorable regulatory approach to digital assets.
SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda, one of the agency's two Republican commissioners who would likely become acting chair when Trump takes office in January, told FOX Business that one path forward would be to pause new enforcement actions that failed to register until there are some clear rules of the road in place.
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"The Commission's war on crypto must end, including crypto enforcement action solely based on a failure to register with no allegation of fraud or harm," Uyeda said.
"President Trump and the American electorate have sent a clear message. Starting in 2025, the SEC's role is to carry out that mandate," he added.
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FOX Business' Eleanor Terrett and Reuters contributed to this report.
