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Bitcoin has surpassed the $100,000 mark, driven by a surge in investor confidence following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency climbed to an all-time high of $103,800 on Thursday, representing a 50% increase since Trump’s election victory in November.

The rally gained momentum after Trump announced Paul Atkins, a known crypto advocate, as his pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), signaling a potential shift toward a more crypto-friendly regulatory framework.

Atkins’ nomination, coupled with Trump’s declaration to position the U.S. as “the bitcoin superpower of the world,” has energized the market.

“Bitcoin reaching $100k is an incredible milestone for our movement,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com. “We never doubted. We never wavered. And we will never stop building.”

Trump’s crypto-friendly administration has also tapped Howard Lutnick for the Commerce Department and Elon Musk to co-lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” humorously dubbed “DOGE” after the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which has soared 150 per cent since election day.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Bitcoin’s meteoric rise marks a sharp reversal from the crypto sector’s downturn two years ago. Back then, the collapse of FTX and regulatory crackdowns drove Bitcoin down to $16,000.

Today, institutional investors are fueling the market, with BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF managing $45 billion in assets. Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, captured the sentiment: “This Bitcoin bull run is different. We have a pro-tech president-elect, a red Senate, a red House, and a mandate from the country to build.”

Since November, $4.4 billion has flowed into crypto ETFs, and companies like MicroStrategy are preparing to raise $42 billion for further Bitcoin investments.

Analysts are now predicting a “golden era” for digital assets under the incoming administration.

In early November, it was reported that Bitcoin breaking the $80,000 milestone, reaching a then-record high of $81,858 amid post-election optimism in the U.S., fueled by expectations of pro-crypto policies under Trump. Just three days later, Bitcoin soared past $90,000.

As of 5:33 a.m., a check by PUNCH Online on CoinMarketCap showed Bitcoin trading at $102,724.32, reflecting a 7% gain in the past 24 hours.

Notably, the stance of the president-elect represents a dramatic shift. While Trump’s previous administration was skeptical of digital currencies, he has now embraced crypto, vowing to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.”

CNBC reported that Trump has pledged to retain “100 percent of all the Bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires in the future” and to replace SEC Chair Gary Gensler, whose tenure saw over 100 regulatory actions against crypto firms.