Bitcoin Cracks $100K, Atkins Appointment Cited

File image of Paul Atkins. Still from the Manhattan Institute.

Bitcoin has broken a major milestone, and analysts say it is unlikely the rally will stop here.

Bitcoin/USD broke the $100K level after Donald Trump announced the appointment of Paul Atkins as Chair of the SEC, the body which regulates financial assets such as cryptocurrencies.

"Bitcoin has rocketed past the once-unthinkable $100,000 milestone, buoyed by news that Paul Atkins is Trump's pick to replace Gary Gensler as SEC chair - a move seen as a win for crypto advocates," says Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Announcing the nomination, Trump said Atkin "recognises that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before."

"Atkins served in the SEC under Bush, when he had a history of opposing regulation and was considered supportive of financial markets. He could revise or reverse changes that were made during the Biden-era. Also, he is unlikely to be as anti-crypto as his predecessor Gary Gensler. Thus, politics is driving bitcoin," explains Kathleen Brooks, lead analyst at XTB.

XTB doubts that the Bitcoin rally will stop here, and the break above $100k, a psychologically significant level, could herald a new phase of the Bitcoin bull market.

"It is also worth saying that the surge in crypto is sucking up market liquidity. This could impact other asset classes, especially underperforming stock markets across Europe. This is a theme that is worth watching," says Brooks.

Britzman says that although questions linger over Bitcoin’s role as a reliable store of value, its speculative allure and the pace of crypto innovation are becoming hard to ignore.

"Institutional interest and regulatory shifts are adding legitimacy, turning what once seemed like a fringe asset into a force reshaping finance. Love it or doubt it, Bitcoin’s climb is rewriting the rulebook for digital assets," he adds.