Bitcoin Bolstered by Pro-Crypto Contender to Lead US Agency CFTC
12/12/2024 10:39(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin traded around the $100,000 level, supported by further signs that proponents of the cryptocurrency sector will help to shape US financial regulations under President-elect Donald Trump.Most Read from BloombergBrace for a Nationwide Shuffle of Corporate HeadquartersAmerican Institute of Architects CEO ResignsCloud Computing Tax Threatens Chicago’s Silicon Valley DreamSan Francisco, Paris Named Best Cities for Urban TransportationCity Hall Is HiringIn the latest development,
(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin traded around the $100,000 level, supported by further signs that proponents of the cryptocurrency sector will help to shape US financial regulations under President-elect Donald Trump.
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In the latest development, Brian Quintenz emerged as a top contender to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Quintenz is head of policy at a16z Crypto, the digital-asset arm of venture capital heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz, and a former Republican CFTC commissioner.
Bitcoin changed hands at $101,000 as of 10:49 a.m. on Thursday in Singapore, holding most of a nearly 5% gain from a day earlier that ranked as the biggest in two weeks. Smaller tokens moved in relatively tight ranges.
Trump’s push to undo a Biden administration crypto crackdown in favor of looser regulations helped lift Bitcoin to an all-time peak of $103,800 on Dec. 5. The cryptocurrency has since blipped around the six-figure level.
Firming expectations for a reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve aided investor sentiment on Wednesday. Speculators boosted bets on a cut after US consumer-price inflation met forecasts. The prospect of looser monetary conditions sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 stock index to a record high.
“The market likes seeing inflation come in within expectations,” said Henry Elder, a principal at UTXO Management, adding that traders are “trying to figure out if $100,000 is a ceiling or a floor.”
Aside from supportive regulations, Trump has also backed the idea of a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile, though many question the feasibility of the latter idea. The president-elect’s son Eric Trump said on Bloomberg Television that his father is “going to be an unbelievable ally to the industry.”
Donald Trump used to be a digital-asset skeptic but pivoted as the industry spent big on promoting its interests during US election campaigning. The Republican now has his own projects in crypto, a controversial sector with a history of volatility, fraud and criminal activity.
Market leader Bitcoin is up roughly 50% since Trump’s victory in the US election on Nov. 5, aided by a net inflow of about $11 billion into US spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the period. Equivalent products for Ether, the second-largest digital asset, have attracted $2.4 billion.