Bitcoin has never been more valuable. Last week, it reached a record $100,000 (£79,000) per bitcoin – the climax of a surge in cryptocurrencies overall since the election of Donald Trump in November.
As Guardian US tech editor, Blake Montgomery, explains to Michael Safi, the relationship between Trump and crypto has not always been so smooth – as recently as his first presidential term, he called bitcoin a “scam against the dollar”.
But the election campaign saw an embrace between the two. In the summer Trump became the first former or sitting president to address a bitcoin conference, announcing he wanted the US to become the “crypto capital of the planet”. In turn, many crypto investors – disproportionately young men – are fervent Trump supporters.
In addition, the crypto industry poured over $130m (£102m) into congressional and senate races, backing mostly Republican and anti-regulation candidates.
It all, eventually, has resulted in historic highs for cryptocurrencies in the last month, in expectation of the most crypto-friendly administration to enter the White House in January.
