Bitcoin hits $100K after Trump names pro-crypto SEC chair

Bitcoin surged to more than $100,000 per coin on Wednesday after President-elect Trump announced Paul Atkins, a cryptocurrency aficionado, would be nominated to head the Security Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Google valued the coin at 102,726 U.S. dollars late in the day, while the NASDAQ and S&P 500 markets also measured gains. The digital currency has been teetering around the six-figure barrier for days as Trump begins to enact plans to make America “the crypto capital of the planet.”

The former president is bolstering the evolving platform amid the threat of new currency systems seeking to challenge the U.S. dollar. 

However, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the platform should be equated to gold instead of traditional money.

“People use bitcoin as a speculative asset. It’s like gold, it’s just like gold — only it’s digital. People are not using it as a form of payment or a store of value,” he told the audience at the New York Times DealBook Summit. 

“It’s highly volatile. It’s not a competitor for the dollar; it’s really a competitor for gold. That’s really how I think about it.”

There have only been approximately 20 million bitcoins ever created, one of the reasons they are so high in value. Traders can invest in different brands of cryptocurrency and can transfer possession of the digital asset through unique ticker symbols and private keys uniquely assigned to each coin.

Atkins will oversee investments, trading and regulate market shares in his role as chair of the SEC. Crypto investors are eager to see how he reshapes the law for the uncharted digital landscape.