JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Cryptocurrency is soaring post-election.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit a record high at over $92,000 on Wednesday and analysts say it’s all because of the presidential election results.
MORE|Bitcoin neared $90,000 in a new record high. What to know about crypto’s post-election rally|Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
President-elect Donald Trump and the “crypto-friendly” nature of the incoming administration are behind the surge.
Speaking at a Bitcoin conference earlier this year, Mr. Trump embraced a pro-crypto agenda, vowing to make America “the crypto capital of the planet.”
Mike Zaccardia, a Chartered Financial Analyst and blogger, said in a way Trump is legitimizing the industry.
“I think one of the big drivers of crypto is the reality that the SEC chairperson, Gary Gensler, will be stepping away, and he’s been rather outspoken against crypto. So, from a regulatory perspective, [it’s a] more favorable environment,” Zaccardi said. “So, it’s just been a massive rally.”
Trump’s involvement in cryptocurrency has been on full display this year. He recently launched World Liberty Financial which is expected to be a borrowing and lending service used to trade cryptocurrencies.
The Trump campaign even accepted donations of cryptocurrency. But more influential is his involvement with billionaire Elon Musk who’s been tapped to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” or D.O.G.E.
“If you take that acronym Doge, which is, which is a nod to Dogecoin, so that gives you an idea of how Elon Musk kind of continues to play around with crypto in the media spotlight. So yeah, he is definitely seen as owner of crypto, definitely on board with a lot of the rhetoric from Trump on the campaign trail,” Zaccardi said.
While crypto is gaining investors’ attention, Zaccardi warns that the market is highly volatile.
“While you may get enticed by some of these big moves we’ve seen, the downside can be just as swift, if not more so there’s risk either way with this, and it’s not something that investors should tread into aggressively. You really have to take a thoughtful approach to this and understand that, you know, unlike the stock market, crypto can go down very quickly on seemingly no news, so there’s a lot of risk involved,” he said.