Why bitcoin has hit a record, and what Trump's win means now
Bitcoin was up 11 percent in a day on Thursday morning. Photo: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP
The price of bitcoin has surged and one New Zealand fund manager says many factors point to it continuing to rise.
US president-elect Donald Trump has spoken as part of his re-election campaign about wanting to make the country the "crypto capital" of the planet.
Bitcoin was up 11 percent in a day to NZ$128,110 or US$76,132 on Thursday morning.
Dogecoin, which is a favourite of Trump supporter Elon Musk was also up almost 20 percent.
Rupert Carlyon, founder of KiwiSaver provider Koura, which offers a crypto fund, said he expected prices to continue to rise.
"Trump has been pretty clear he will support the industry, the US government will stop selling, he's going to undo a whole lot of regulatory pressure on the industry and set up a taskforce to figure out how they can use cryptocurrency better."
He said Trump had received significant backing from the industry and had "gone large" in it as well, with his own token launched recently.
"To me it suggests it's more than just speeches, he's likely to do stuff. The biggest thing he can do is reduce the regulatory pressure. What that does it that enables more product so it's easier for investors and retail people to invest in crypto. The SEC has made things really hard for investors over the last four years of the Biden administration.
"If all of that came true, logically more products being developed means more buyers, and supply and demand suggest we should keep on going up."
He said the effect of new exchange-traded crypto funds had been a big driver in recent months as US investors who did not previously have easy access to crypto were able to invest.
Many major investment houses were also talking positively about crypto, he said.
"Is bitcoin going to become normal and prove itself as the new digital gold?"
He said many of Trump's policies were likely to mean more bigger deficits, more money printing and more inflation, which would create more demand for a "digital gold" asset. "We want something that's finite that the government can't keep on printing - that reasoning is only getting stronger by the day."
James Quinn-Kumar, director of community engagement for Binance in New Zealand, said Bitcoin had grown 70 percent since the start of the year.
He agreed with Carlyon that ETFs were a big driver.
He said spot BTC ETFs now collectively held 5.2 percent of Bitcoin's total supply.
"Bitcoin's ascent to this new record is a testament to its resilience and appeal as a store of value.
"After a period of stabilisation, this milestone highlights the continued optimism surrounding bitcoin and its potential for sustainable growth in both traditional and emerging markets.
"The new all-time high demonstrates the impact of supportive developments within the crypto landscape and reinforces the increasing alignment of digital assets with global financial trends.
Looking ahead, the crypto market remains optimistic, as Bitcoin's role in diversified portfolios continues to expand and gain further acceptance."
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