Undeterred, bitcoin continues to break new highs. With a rise of 4% the largest cryptocurrency based on its capitalization touched a new record of $98,500, a level which it did not maintain.

The new rise is due to the announcement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the chairman, Gary Gensler, will step down on January 20, the day Donald Trump will be sworn in as the new US president and take office.

The president-elect had promised to “fire” Gensler on his very first day in the Oval Office, although he does not actually have that power. However, it is common for SEC heads to resign when the administration changes hands.

Gary Gensler, the man crypto enthusiasts loved to hate, took office in February 2021, his term normally ending in 2026.

It is recalled that the price of bitcoin has shot up by about 40% since the November 5 presidential election, when Trump was elected as the new president of the United States, who even once called bitcoin a “fraud”. But things have changed, with Trump making cryptocurrencies his “flagship” during his election campaign, while sharing promises to turn the US into the “cryptocurrency capital of the world.”