Bitcoin soared over $82,000 for the first time due to US President-elect Donald Trump’s support of digital assets and the possibility of lawmakers favouring it in Congress, Bloomberg reported.

Bitcoin jumped nearly 6.1 per cent on Sunday. On Monday, at 10:21 am in London, it crossed the highest $82,300. Smaller tokens, such as Dogecoin, promoted by Elon Musk, also rose.

Earlier, Trump was announced as the winner of Arizona, giving him victory over all the seven battleground states.

Trump’s win has resulted in this significant jump in digital assets, an industry which spent more than $100 million on supporting crypto supporting candidates, the Bloomberg report said.

“With the dust from Trump’s victory still settling down, it was only a matter of time before a run-up of some sort occurred given the perception of Trump being pro-crypto, and that’s what we’re seeing now,” the report said, quoting Le Shi, Hong Kong managing director at market-making firm Auros.

Trump’s campaign

Donald Trump had promised to make the US the focus of the digital asset industry. He plans to create a strategic Bitcoin stockpile and appoint regulators favourable to digital assets, the report said.

So far in 2024, Bitcoin has increased nearly 94 per cent, boosted by demand for US exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and key rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. After the Tuesday election results, the returns on Bitcoin are more than the returns from investment tools such as stocks and gold.

The report said US ETFs, majorly backed by the $35 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust of BlackRock Inc., reported a record daily net inflow of almost $1.4 billion on Thursday.

“We believe a significant portion of the institutional market de-risked in the lead-up to the election and is now re-entering post-Trump’s win, creating material buying pressure — this is likely to be ongoing for some time yet,” the report said, quoting Richard Galvin, founder of crypto-focused investment firm DACM.

Donald Trump’s agenda is completely in contrast to President Joe Biden’s administration. Securities & Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has often alleged that the industry is engaged in fraud and misconduct. Due to Trump’s stance on the industry, these digital asset companies have spent a lot of money on Trump’s campaign.

“Trump has promised supportive regulation, and the sweep of the House and the Senate makes the passage of crypto bills much more likely,” the report said, quoting Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter.