President-elect Donald Trump, who was once a crypto skeptic but now a believer, sent BTC prices soaring even higher after an appearance Sunday on CNBC when he was asked about the possibility of a bitcoin strategic reserve in the U.S.
“Yeah, I think so,” Trump said.
“We’re gonna do something great with crypto because we don’t want China or anybody else, not just China but others are embracing it, and we want to be the head,” he said.
Al Jazeera noted that the U.S. has about 200,000 bitcoins currently valued at about $20 billion. Governments around the world held 2.2 percent of the total supply as of July, the report said.
Trump announced earlier this month that he asked Paul Atkins, who worked for George W. Bush administration and seen as a big advocate for deregulation of crypto currencies, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trump posted on social media his support for Atkins and called him a “proven leader for common sense regulations.”
“He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote.
Trump benefited from major support from the crypto community and pulled in hundreds of millions of dollars in donations during the campaign.
Peter McGuire from trading platform XM.com told the BBC that the BTC rally since the election “has been parabolic and the FOMO – or fear of missing out – rally is gathering momentum.”
“Many investors believe $120,000 is achievable by the end of the year and then in 2025 there’s talk of greater than $150,000 by mid-year,” he said.