Bitcoin Touches Record, Crypto-Tied Stocks Surge With Trump Set to Win White House

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) surged to a record high, briefly topping $75,000, as Donald Trump was set to recapture the U.S. presidency. 

The token has since retreated from the previous high of $73,798, set earlier this year, but is still up some 7% over the past 24 hours as the former president, who has billed himself as the pro-crypto candidate, closed in on a reuturn the White House. An estimate of the total value of the crypto market was also up 7%, to $2.6 trillion.

Shares of several bitcoin-related companies, including trading app Robinhood (HOOD), cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) and Marathon Digital parent company MARA Holdings (MARA), all surged 10% or more in premarket trading.

Shares in Microstrategy (MSTR), a big holder of bitcoin, were 14% higher.

Bitcoin trading activity had been picking up ahead of Election Day. Since Oct. 11, spot bitcoin ETFhave received net inflows of nearly $4 billion, with only one day where money flowed out of them, according to data from Farside Investors.

Trump Turned Crypto Believer This Year

Trump, who was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies in 2019, turned believer this year.

At a bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee in July, the presidential nominee reportedly said he would make the U.S.  the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a bitcoin “strategic reserve” using the currency that the government currently holds.

The approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of spot bitcoin ETFs earlier this year turbocharged the demand for the cryptocurrency. The move allowed everyday investors to trade bitcoin as easily as shares.