Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time on Thursday morning, a historic milestone as the cryptocurrency continues a post-election rally fuelled by hopes that Donald Trump's second term as president will bring a pro-crypto era to the US.
The price of Bitcoin was $100,995.52 as of 7am UAE time on Thursday.
Bitcoin reached the threshold hours after Mr Trump nominated cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, considered a major win for digital assets. Mr Atkins has served on the board of advisers for the Digital Chambers Token Alliance, a crypto advisory group, since 2017.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Mr Trump said Mr Atkins "recognises that digital assets and other innovations are crucial to making America greater than ever before". The president-elect also hailed Mr Atkins as a "proven leader for common sense regulations".
If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace outgoing SEC chairman Gary Gensler, who announced last month that he will step down on inauguration day. Mr Gensler has been a prominent figure in regulating cryptocurrencies during his time at the SEC, making him one of the industry's biggest antagonists.
That aggressive approach towards cryptocurrencies led to the SEC suing Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and other crypto exchanges that the agency alleged were unregistered securities exchanges, brokers and clearing agencies.
The current bout of optimism has dulled memories of a market rout in 2022 that exposed fraud and other risky practices and led to the collapse of platforms including Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. The turmoil precipitated the SEC clampdown that now appears set to ease under Mr Trump.
Mr Trump has proposed several pro-friendly crypto proposals, including the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a crypto advisory council.
“The $100,000 milestone, which once seemed bold, now looks conservative,” Nigel Green, chief executive of financial advisory and asset management firm deVere Group, said. “I believe Bitcoin could reach $120,000 in the first quarter of 2025 as the rally gains further traction.”
“The growing narrative of Bitcoin as digital gold is becoming impossible to ignore. It’s increasingly viewed as a hedge against inflation and a tool for portfolio diversification. Institutional interest is at an all-time high, and the infrastructure to support mass adoption continues to expand.”
Although Bitcoin’s rise is not without volatility, for long-term investors, the trajectory is unmistakable, he said. The combination of limited supply, increasing demand, and supportive regulatory developments forms a compelling case for sustained growth, Mr Green added.
“The window to act before Bitcoin becomes even more entrenched in the global financial system is closing,” he said.
Bitcoin has surged more than 40 per cent since Mr Trump's electoral win two weeks ago. The crypto market as a whole has gained about $1 trillion since his November 5 election win.
Much of the crypto industry's hopes of a friendlier administration rests on the promises made by Mr Trump. Once a sceptic, Mr Trump fully embraced crypto on the campaign trail.
He has said he will make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”. The timeline for implementation of his promises and the feasibility of the Bitcoin reserve remain uncertain.
Crypto corporations spent $119 million on federal elections this year to support pro-crypto candidates, according to data from Public Citizen, many of whom went on to win election. Mr Trump also has his own digital-asset projects.
Bitcoin accumulator MicroStrategy’s plans to accelerate purchases of the token, and the debut of options on US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, also lifted sentiment this week.
A group of one dozen US ETFs investing in Bitcoin have attracted a net inflow of $5.9 billion in the period following Election Day, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The group’s total assets have reached an unprecedented $100 billion.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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