Bitcoin breaks through the $100 thousand mark.
5 December 2024 09:46
Today, Bitcoin exceeded the $100,000 mark for the first time in history, according to "Komersant Ukrainian" reports with reference to Reuters.
This event has become an important milestone even for skeptics. Investors hope that the new US administration will support cryptocurrencies, which could strengthen their position in the financial markets.
According to CoinGecko, the total market value of cryptocurrencies has almost doubled this year, reaching a record $3.8 trillion. For comparison, Apple’s capitalization is about $3.7 trillion.
Bitcoin records and its way to the financial mainstream
Bitcoin, created 16 years ago, has gone from the periphery to the central financial market, creating a new asset class and popularizing the concept of decentralized finance. This year, its value has more than doubled, and after Donald Trump won the presidential election, it gained more than 50% in just four weeks.
After breaking through $100,000 on Thursday morning Asian time, Bitcoin quickly rose to $103,619 and later traded at $101,933.
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift. Bitcoin and digital assets in general are moving closer to entering the financial mainstream thanks to institutional support, progress in tokenization, payments, and clearer regulatory rules,”
– said Mike Novogratzi, founder of Galaxy Digital.
Trump’s financial policy: focus on cryptocurrencies
During the election campaign, Donald Trump actively supported digital assets, promising to make the United States the “cryptocurrency capital of the planet” and form a national Bitcoin reserve.
The key moment was the announcement of his intention to appoint Paul Atkins as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Atkins has experience in the cryptocurrency sector, including as co-chairman of the Token Alliance.
“His appointment could open up new horizons for cryptocurrencies in the United States,”
– said Christine Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association.
In addition, companies such as Ripple, Kraken, and Circle are seeking to join Trump’s promised cryptocurrency advisory council.
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Crisis recovery and institutional support
Bitcoin’s success reached a new level after falling to $16,000 in 2022, when the industry was reeling from the collapse of the FTX exchange. The founder of the exchange, Sam Benkman-Fried , is currently imprisoned.
Analysts attribute the new growth to active support from large investors. For example, U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on Bitcoin have raised more than $4 billion since the beginning of the year. According to Standard Chartered, about 3% of the total number of Bitcoins in 2024 was purchased by institutional investors.
“Digital assets are becoming part of the normal financial market,”
– said Jeff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered.
Although the cryptocurrency industry has been criticized for its high energy consumption and fraud risks, its resilience proves its viability. In 2024, cryptocurrencies have become one of the key assets that are changing the financial world, despite their volatility and controversy. Its future looks promising thanks to the active support of major players and institutional investors.
Bitcoin: a dossier
Bitcoin is the world’s first and most popular cryptocurrency, which appeared in 2009. It was created by a person or group of people under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, who remains anonymous. Bitcoin is based on blockchain technology and has no centralized governing body.
Bitcoin is “mined” using a special mining technology, which is a digital analogy to the mining of physical minerals. Similarly to physical minerals, the number of Bitcoins is limited – there are only 21 million tokens in existence. So far, 19 million tokens have been mined, which is more than 90% of all “deposits”. Therefore, mining is becoming more and more difficult and expensive.
Bitcoin, like anything else in the world, can be exchanged for anything else, including traditional currencies. The value of Bitcoin shows the level of trust in it.
Bitcoin is considered a reliable and well-secured currency with a very high level of confidentiality. In the Bitcoin system, all information about transactions is open, but information about owners is completely anonymous. That is why Bitcoin, like some other cryptocurrencies, is popular among Ukrainian corrupt officials.
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