Bitcoin (BTC) Price Nears $100K as Crypto Advocates Emerge as Contenders to Head SEC, CFTC

The digital asset rose to the most in more than two weeks to hit $97,361, and subsequently dropped to $95,500 as of 5:45 a.m. London time Thursday.

Cryptocurrency lovers emerged as leading candidates in consideration by the Senate to run both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which aids its sentiment.

He will roll back a Biden administration crackdown on digital assets and support industry growth, including building up a national Bitcoin stockpile.

The Republican’s promises sparked a wave of euphoria that pushed the token to within a whisker of a record $100,000 last week before the mood turned cautious ahead of concrete steps.

Possible SEC Head

People familiar with the matter say that crypto advocate Paul Atkins is a top contender to succeed Gary Gensler as SEC chair. Gensler launched a flurry of enforcement actions over alleged noncompliance and risky practices in the digital-asset sector, becoming the industry’s bete noire.

Meanwhile, most or all of the potential contenders to head the CFTC, the derivatives regulator, would likely be friendly toward the crypto market, which has surged about $1 trillion since Trump’s victory in the US election on Nov. 5.

Trump’s transition team has also discussed whether to create the first White House post dedicated to digital-asset policy. On Wall Street, there are growing indications of more willingness to engage with the nascent market.

Bitcoin came within $300 of the landmark $100,000 mark on Nov. 22 before shedding about $9,000 over the subsequent four days. Crypto’s adherents view the six-figure number as a validation of contested claims that Bitcoin is a modern-day store of value and a hedge against inflation risk.

Roubini’s Warning

Experts disagree, such as Nouriel Roubini — known for his warnings of disaster before the 2008 financial crisis. “Bitcoin is highly volatile,” Roubini said on Bloomberg Television Wednesday.

"If you want wealth preservation rather than high volatility, you want to stay away from those types of assets."

It is estimated that about $6.9 billion has flowed into US exchange-traded funds invested directly in Bitcoin since the election victory of Trump. The 12 ETFs have total assets of approximately $100 billion.

Once some leverage is flushed and shorter term buyers are done taking profits, we believe Bitcoin may find a strong base of support and could make another attempt to surpass the $100,000 level,” Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital LP, wrote in a note.