Bitcoin hits record $81,000 on Trump's win and pro-crypto congress hopes

The effort succeeded last week, with many of the industry's chosen candidates winning their races, potentially ushering in a Congress poised to champion crypto

Bitcoin soared to a record high above $81,000 on Monday on expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom in a favourable regulatory environment following the election of Donald Trump as US president and pro-crypto candidates to Congress. 

The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency , has now more than doubled from the year's low of $38,505 and was last at $81,572 having earlier touched a record high of $81,899. 

Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin. 

Other so-called 'Trump trades' - from US stocks to shorting bonds have lost some steam since the election, but cryptocurrencies haven't paused for breath. 

"Bitcoin's Trump-pump is alive and well... with Republicans on the cusp of taking the house to confirm a red wave in Congress, it seems the crypto crowd are betting on digital-currency deregulation," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, referring to Republican control of both houses. 

While Simpson warned Trump's near-term priorities are likely to lie elsewhere, crypto investors see an end to stepped-up scrutiny under US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler whom Trump has said he will fire. 

The cryptocurrency industry spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates and has, by and large, succeeded. 

In Ohio, one of the crypto industry's biggest foes in Congress - Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown was ousted, while pro-crypto candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties won in Michigan, West Virgina, Indiana, Alabama and North Carolina. 

Trump also unveiled a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial in September, and although details about the business have been scarce, investors have taken his personal interest in the sector as a friendly signal. 

Billionaire Elon Musk, a major Trump ally, is also a proponent of cryptocurrencies. 

Eric Trump, one of the president-elect's sons and executive vice president of his private conglomerate, The Trump Organization, is a keynote speaker at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi next month, according to the event organisers. 

Gains in cryptocurrencies have been broad. Ether rose above $3,200 for the first time in over three months on Monday and was last fetching $3,192. Dogecoin, an alternative cryptocurrency that began as a satirical critique of the 2013 crypto frenzy, was at a three-year high. 

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