Bitcoin hits $100K
Bitcoin breaks the US$100,000 mark for the first time ever.
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15 years since its creation, and after years of dramatic rises and falls, Bitcoin has finally hit six figures, a feat most thought impossible even a few years ago.
The world's largest cryptocurrency, which could effectively be earned for free when first launched by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, now has a market capitalisation of almost US$2 trillion, making it one of the most valuable assets on the planet and arguably the best-performing asset in history.
But what is behind its precipitous rise and is this the start of a true crypto golden age?
The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January paved the way for what has been a stellar year for Bitcoin, opening the door to institutional investment and helping legitimise Bitcoin in the eyes of traditional financial markets.
In the first day of trading Bitcoin ETFs broke records, with billions in volume, and have now recorded more than $130 billion in inflows.
Since then, the US election result has added fuel to the fire, and the incoming Trump administration is also almost certain to be the most-crypto friendly in history.
Gary Gensler, the Biden administration's incumbent SEC chair, has been stridently anti-crypto.
President Elect Trump looks set to replace him with an explicitly pro-crypto candidate, which is likely to signal a seismic shift in US policy towards crypto regulation.
The launch of Bitcoin ETF options on 19 November has further emphasised the fervent demand for Bitcoin, with a record US$1.9 billion in contracts traded on the first day.
MicroStrategy, the software company that has been turned into a proxy Bitcoin trust by chairman Michael Saylor, is now the most traded stock in America.
According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, the so-called "Bitcoin Industrial Complex" hit a peak daily trading volume of US$70 billion on 21 November.
All in, it's hard to imagine a more bullish environment for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole.
In crypto vernacular, WAGMI stands for "we are going to make it".
In Bitcoin's case, it seems it finally has.
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