(CNN) — Bitcoin hit a new record high above $80,000 on Sunday. The world’s largest cryptocurrency soared in the run-up to Tuesday’s US presidential election, rose sharply on election night after it became clear Donald Trump would win and has continued to climb in the days since his victory.Bitcoin is up 80% this year, far outpacing the S&P 500’s still-impressive 25.7% gain this year. After briefly touching the $80,000 milestone, Bitcoin was trading just below that figure mid-morning Sunday.
The cryptocurrency industry believes Trump’s victory is a bullish sign for bitcoin and other digital currencies. Although Trump was once skeptical of bitcoin, saying it was “based on thin air,” he has fully embraced cryptocurrencies in recent months, unlike the Biden administration, which has sought to rein them in.
One big reason Trump has changed his stance on cryptocurrencies: He now has a financial stake in them. In September, Trump and his sons started a new cryptocurrency business called World Liberty Financial.
“It’s very young and it’s growing a lot,” Trump said of the cryptocurrency industry on Sept. 16 while introducing World Liberty Financial. “I believe in it.”
The Biden administration, by contrast, has been far more skeptical of cryptocurrencies. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler said in June 2021, in one of his first speeches in his then-new job, that cryptocurrencies were “rife with fraud, scams and abuse.”
Gensler’s SEC sued cryptocurrency companies and worked to regulate the industry, which the chairman said he believed was at least partially comprised of securities that were traded illegally. The SEC also partnered with other regulators, including the Justice Department, going after cryptocurrency scammers, most notably Sam Bankman-Fried, the infamous CEO of FTX .
Gensler slowly moved forward with (but eventually approved) a bitcoin exchange-traded fund , which allows people to increase cryptocurrency exposure in their retirement accounts. In January 2024, Gensler’s X user was hacked , and his account falsely posted that the long-awaited bitcoin fund was open for business, temporarily sending cryptocurrencies soaring.
Trump said in August that cryptocurrencies could “define the future,” adding that he wanted them “mined, minted and manufactured in the U.S.” The president-elect also proposed a national bitcoin strategic reserve, similar to the U.S. strategic oil reserve, by directly buying and investing in cryptocurrencies as a national security measure.
Elon Musk, one of Trump’s most visible and ardent supporters, is a well-known proponent of cryptocurrencies. Musk’s favorite coin, Dogecoin, rose more than 20% on Sunday and had been rising throughout the past week.