Bitcoin finally breaks through $100,000. What factors are driving it?

Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 on December 5, 2024, driven by multiple factors:
- Regulatory support: Trump nominated crypto advocate Paul Atkins as SEC chairman, boosting market confidence.
- Fed stance: Powell compared Bitcoin to gold, not the dollar, reinforcing its speculative asset status.
- Global adoption: Putin endorsed cryptocurrencies, stating they cannot be banned, while Russia legalized crypto as "property" with a tax framework.
- Stablecoin growth: Stablecoin market cap exceeded $200 billion, signaling strong capital inflow, with USDT dominating at $135.77 billion.
- Market dynamics: South Korea's crypto dip attracted bottom-buying, reflecting high-risk appetite among traders.
- Halving cycle: The 2024 Bitcoin halving historically precedes bull markets, with 2025 expected to remain bullish.
- Industry innovation: AI and Web3 convergence is attracting traditional investors, expanding crypto applications.

Key catalysts include political, regulatory, and macroeconomic shifts, alongside institutional and retail demand.

Author: Rachel, Golden Finance

After adjusting sideways for half a month, Bitcoin finally broke through $100,000 per coin on the morning of December 5, 2024 Beijing time.

What factors helped Bitcoin break the historic mark of $100,000? Golden Finance summarizes them as follows:

1. Trump nominates crypto advocate Paul Atkins as new chairman of the U.S. SEC

On December 4, Trump nominated Paul Atkins as the chairman of the US SEC. Paul Atkins is an open crypto advocate. Paul Atkins is the founder of Patomak Global Partners, whose business includes crypto information business. Paul Atkins serves as a consultant for multiple crypto projects.

Since 2017, Paul Atkins has served as co-chair of the Token Alliance, an industry-led initiative comprised of former regulators, industry experts, and lawyers that aims to drive mainstream adoption of digital assets. He also serves on the advisory board of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a leading cryptocurrency advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.

After the news that Trump nominated Paul Atkins as the chairman of the US SEC was announced in the early morning of December 5, Bitcoin immediately rose from around US$95,000 to US$99,000, and broke through the historic mark of US$100,000 after the news fermented.

2. Powell: Bitcoin's competitor is gold, not the US dollar

On December 4, Powell said in his speech that the Fed has not yet achieved its goal of reducing inflation, but is still making progress in reducing inflation. The rising price level has made people dissatisfied. Judging from the number of employed people, the employment situation is good, but the low-income class is facing pressure. These speeches are still in line with people's expectations that the United States will cut interest rates by 25BP again in December. At the same time, he also mentioned in his speech that Bitcoin is regarded as a speculative asset, and its main competitor is gold rather than the US dollar.

3. Russian President Putin clearly supports cryptocurrency: No one can ban Bitcoin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Russia Calling investment forum on December 4 that no one can stop the development of Bitcoin. "Who can ban Bitcoin? No one can. Who can ban the use of other electronic payment methods? No one can. Because these are new technologies. Regardless of the future of the US dollar, these tools will develop in one way or another because everyone is working to reduce costs and increase reliability."

Last week, Putin officially signed an important law that clearly identified cryptocurrencies as "property" and established a comprehensive tax framework for cryptocurrency transactions and mining activities. This law will be officially implemented on January 1, 2025, marking a key step for Russia in the field of cryptocurrency regulation and taxation.

4. Stablecoins continue to be issued, with a market value exceeding US$200 billion

The issuance of stablecoins has always been a sign of hot money inflows, and also represents the issuers' optimism about the future of the overall crypto market. The market shows that the total market value of stablecoins has exceeded 200 billion US dollars, and is now reported at 200,129,553,664 US dollars, a record high. Among them, the market value of Tether's US dollar stablecoin USDT is about 135.77 billion US dollars. Since Trump's victory, Tether has issued an additional 17 billion US dollars of USDT.

5. South Korea’s crypto market plummeted, and a large amount of funds bought at the bottom

On the evening of December 3, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol announced martial law, which caused market fluctuations. The price of Bitcoin on the Korean upbit exchange once fell to about $60,000, but a large amount of funds rushed in to buy. South Korean traders love high-risk and high-return products. Since Trump won the election, the trading volume of crypto tokens has exceeded the Korean benchmark KOSPI index.

6. Bitcoin halving cycle

The last halving of Bitcoin will be in May 2024. After the past three halvings, Bitcoin will set historical records. According to the cycle law, the second half of the crypto bull market has just begun, and 2025 will still be a bull market year.

7. Innovation and development of the industry

With the development of the cryptocurrency industry, the combination of AI and Web3 has become a hot spot for industry innovation and has also attracted many traditional investors and entrepreneurs. New application paradigms are gradually unfolding.