What happened
Bitcoin topped $100,000 for the first time Wednesday, hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Who said what
Wednesday's high-water mark — $103,713 for a single bitcoin — capped an "extraordinary rally since Election Day," when the world's largest cryptocurrency was trading at $69,374, The Wall Street Journal said. A "wave of campaign spending" by crypto firms helped send 298 pro-crypto lawmakers to Congress and Trump to the White House. Trump in turn promised to make the U.S. "the crypto capital of the planet" and create a "strategic reserve" of bitcoin.
The crypto industry wants legislative and regulatory changes that, "generally speaking, aim for an increased sense of legitimacy without too much red tape," The Associated Press said. Atkins, a former SEC commissioner who co-chairs the Chamber of Digital Commerce's Token Alliance, is expected to be much friendlier to the industry than outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Bitcoin, worth about $5,000 in early 2020, "now stands as arguably the most successful investment product of the last 20 years," The New York Times said. It also "remains prone to extreme volatility," significantly "contributes to climate change" has "long been used by scammers and thieves." But "who can prohibit it?" Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Wednesday, according to Reuters. "No one."
-
Why are American conservatives clashing with Pope Leo?Talking Points Comments on immigration and abortion draw backlash
-
9 haunted hotels where things definitely go bump in the nightThe Week Recommends Don’t fear these spirited spots. Embrace them.
-
Saudi comedy fest exposes free speech schism in stand-upIN THE SPOTLIGHT The decision by some of stand-up’s biggest names to attend a festival in a nation infamous for its censorship has the comedy world picking sides and settling old scores
-
What are stablecoins, and why is the government so interested in them?The Explainer With the government backing calls for the regulation of certain cryptocurrencies, are stablecoins the future?
-
Why are beef prices rising? And how is politics involved?Today's Big Question Drought, tariffs and consumer demand all play a role
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
Labor: Federal unions struggle to survive TrumpFeature Trump moves to strip union rights from federal workers
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
Switzerland could experience unique economic problems from Trump's tariffsIn the Spotlight The current US tariff rate on Switzerland is among the highest in the world
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
