Bitcoin popped back up above $100,000 for the first time in weeks late Thursday with President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration just days away.
As of Monday morning, the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization was up more than 3% to $102,754 apiece. That’s a more than $10,000 bump in the price if Bitcoin since Monday, when it traded at around $90,000 ahead of new U.S. inflation figures and bank earnings.
Trump has helped drive a cryptocurrency rally since his election win. On Nov. 5, Bitcoin was priced at around $69,000. In the months since Election Day, the popular digital asset hit several record highs (and just as quickly pared back at least some of those gains in the days that followed).
Bitcoin hit $100,000 for the first time on Dec. 5 — a feat which Trump took credit for in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, early that morning.
“CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!! Together, we will Make America Great Again!” he wrote.
Later that month, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of more than $106,000 before reversing some of those advances in the weeks that followed. A portion of that reversal can be attributed to rising concerns about resurgent U.S. inflation.
But the December consumer price index, released Wednesday, likely helped soothe some of those nerves. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report showed core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, rose just 0.2% to an annual 3.2%.
“Wednesday’s softer-than-expected CPI print offers some relief, especially after last Friday’s hot employment numbers, that the Fed may be able to still cut interest rates in 2025,” said Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital, in a statement.
Investors are also hoping Trump, who is set to take office on Monday, will spur adoption and legitimization of digital assets. On the campaign trail, he called for a strategic national Bitcoin reserve, declared all Bitcoin should be mined in the U.S., and attached his name to multiple crypto projects.
The president-elect has tapped Paul Atkins, a cryptocurrency advocate, to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission following Gary Gensler’s departure — a move welcomed by the crypto industry.
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