In brief: The price of a single Bitcoin has surpassed $100,000 for the first time as the world's most popular cryptocurrency continues to soar in value following the recent US presidential election.
Bitcoin entered 2024 valued around $44,000. While far more than some ever imagined a virtual token could be worth, it was still around $20,000 less than the previous all-time high achieved in late 2021. The cryptocurrency hovered around the $60,000 - $70,000 range for much of the year but as the election neared, its value started to skyrocket.
Trump's win in early November helped propel Bitcoin to a new record high the following day, but the rally was far from over. In the month since the election, Bitcoin's value has steadily climbed. As of writing, a single Bitcoin is worth $102,178. That is an increase of nearly 40 percent since the election.
Earlier this week, Trump nominated cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins previously served as commissioner of the SEC during the Bush administration. Trump said Atkins "recognizes that digital assets and other innovations are crucial to making America greater than ever before."
Other digital assets are also riding the wave of success. Ethereum is currently trading at $3,900 – not quite at its November 2021 high, but close. XRP is at $2.41 – again, not the highest it has ever been but not far behind, either.
Related reading: Man narrows landfill search for $771 million Bitcoin hard drive with "finely tuned" plan
With the virtual currency having finally broken the longstanding $100K barrier, it is anyone's guess as to where things go from here. Regardless of what happens next, one mystery lingers: the identity of Bitcoin's creator, the legendary Satoshi Nakamoto (likely a pseudonym).
It has been roughly 15 years since the cryptocurrency first hit the scene and although several names have been floated, we still don't have a concrete answer. Most recently, an HBO documentary named Peter Todd, a Canadian developer involved in Bitcoin in its early days, as its inventor.
Image credit: Michael Fortsch, Diana Light
