(Dec 12): Bitcoin traded around the US$100,000 (RM443,575) level, supported by further signs that proponents of the cryptocurrency sector will help to shape US financial regulations under President-elect Donald Trump.

In the latest development, Brian Quintenz emerged as a top contender to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Quintenz is the head of policy at a16z Crypto, the digital-asset arm of venture capital heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz, and a former Republican CFTC commissioner.

Bitcoin changed hands at US$101,000 as of 10.49am on Thursday in Singapore, holding most of a nearly 5% gain from a day earlier that ranked as the biggest in two weeks. Smaller tokens moved in relatively tight ranges.

Trump’s push to undo a Biden administration crypto crackdown in favour of looser regulations helped lift bitcoin to an all-time peak of US$103,800 on Dec 5. The cryptocurrency has since blipped around the six-figure level.

Firming expectations for a reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve aided investor sentiment on Wednesday. Speculators boosted bets on a cut after US consumer-price inflation met forecasts. The prospect of looser monetary conditions sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 stock index to a record high.

“The market likes seeing inflation come in within expectations,” said Henry Elder, a principal at UTXO Management, adding that traders are “trying to figure out if US$100,000 is a ceiling or a floor”.

Aside from supportive regulations, Trump has also backed the idea of a strategic national bitcoin stockpile, though many question the feasibility of the latter idea. The president-elect’s son Eric Trump said on Bloomberg Television that his father is “going to be an unbelievable ally to the industry”.

President-elect Donald Trump used to be a digital-asset skeptic but pivoted as the industry spent big on promoting its interests during US election campaigning. The Republican now has his own projects in crypto, a controversial sector with a history of volatility, fraud and criminal activity.

Market leader bitcoin is up roughly 50% since Trump’s victory in the US election on Nov 5, aided by a net inflow of about US$11 billion into US spot-bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the period. Equivalent products for Ether, the second-largest digital asset, have attracted US$2.4 billion.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee