Joe Light and George Glover and Callum Keown
Bitcoin jumped to a record high, and crypto stocks jumped on Wednesday as former President Donald Trump won the U.S. election.
The largest cryptocurrency briefly topped $75,000 in early trading to pass the previous intraday high it had hit in March, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Shortly before 6 a.m. Eastern Time it was up 6.4% at $73,886.
Crypto-related stocks surged in premarket trading as MicroStrategy jumped 14%, Coinbase Global rose 13%, and MARA Holdings added 11%.
Cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin were also racking up gains. Ethereum climbed 8.8% to $2,626, Solana spiked 12% to $185, and Dogecoin -- a so-called meme token that has been touted by Trump ally Elon Musk -- surged 21% to over 20 cents.
Prices surged as soon as it became clear that Trump would win the election. On Wednesday, the Associated Press called Wisconsin for the Republican candidate shortly after 5.30 a.m. ET, meaning he has clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris.
Both candidates have embraced crypto this election cycle. Harris called blockchain one of the "industries of the future," and pledged to support Bitcoin and other tokens as part of her economic plan.
But it has been obvious for a while that most digital-asset bulls were rooting for Trump. Having once trashed cryptos as being "based on thin air," the Republican nominee has done a dramatic U-turn on the sector this year. In July, he pledged to set up a Bitcoin strategic reserve and to replace Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, who's widely seen as a crypto hawk.
The price of Bitcoin had been expected to swing wildly late Tuesday and early Wednesday, when most other U.S. markets weren't open. Bernstein analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said in a research note Monday that a Trump win could mean the crypto jumps above $80,000 over the next two months.
Write to Joe Light at joe.light@barrons.com, George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com and Callum Keown at callum.keown@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 06, 2024 06:41 ET (11:41 GMT)
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