Bitcoin Hits Record High On Crypto Confidence After Trump Defeats Harris

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency of them all, surged to an all-time high valuation in the nighttime hours as it became apparent that former President Donald Trump had the necessary votes to defeat current Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential election. While the votes are still being tallied, it's clear that Trump will be headed back to the White House in January, and that has seemingly sparked a wave of renewed interest in crypto, which had already been showing signs of another boom.

Before this week, Bitcoin's previous high point was just a little shy of $74,000, a mark it reached in March of this year. Since then, the volatile cryptocurrency fell to as low as $53,000 and change, but it began ascending more consistently as Election Day came into view. Earlier this morning, it peaked at $75,317.59, setting a new record high as multiple outlets began reporting that Trump had secured the necessary electoral votes for another term. The record valuation comes on the heels of the FTC issuing a warning over skyrocketing Bitcoin ATM scams.

In comments made to CNBC, Sylvia Jablonski, CEO and chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs, cited key themes around Trump's presidential run, as it relates to cryptocurrency.

"The themes around the Trump trade for crypto are deregulation, potential tax cuts for an asset that is both held long term but also day traded, less dependency on parts of government like financial institutions and the Fed—or at least an alternative for decentralized currency—and overall support of risk assets and the growth of crypto ... is really what’s making it grow," Jablonski said.

On multiple occasions, Trump had voiced support for cryptocurrencies, saying he would put in place a crypto advisory council during his first 100 days in office, should he win the presidency. He also drew the support of Elon Musk, who himself is a crypto advocate.

The election results may not be the only driving force, however. According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin's record value can also be partially attributed to a $94 million liquidation of bearish or hedged bets against the popular crypto.

Meanwhile, other notable cryptocurrencies are trending upwards as well, including Ethereum (up nearly 8% today), Solana (up over 14% since yesterday), and Dogecoin (up over 16%), the latter of which is a memecoin that Musk has often touted. To that end, Musk jokingly said his role in the White House would be to lead a Department of Government Efficiency, a tongue-in-cheek homage to Doge.

Cryptocurrency is nothing if not volatile, however, so it will be interesting to see how long and far the current momentum takes Bitcoin and other digital assets, and if a price correction looms.