- Bitcoin hit $80,000 after Trump's reelection boosted crypto sentiment.
- The crypto industry hopes Trump will bring regulatory changes.
- Trump, once a crypto skeptic, has since branded himself as the "crypto president."
Bitcoin reached $80,000 for the first time after soaring on the back of Donald Trump's election win earlier this week.
The cryptocurrency was up by over 5% on Sunday, reaching nearly $81,000 at the time of writing.
Trump had once been a cryptocurrency skeptic, previously describing the digital assets as "highly volatile and based on thin air."
But he became an outspoken supporter of crypto during his 2024 presidential campaign, even branding himself the "crypto president."
And it seems to have paid off for the president-elect, who was able to unlock millions in campaign funding from the crypto community ahead of his victory.
Many in the industry are now hopeful Trump will usher in a new crypto era, sweeping aside regulatory restrictions and giving bitcoin a role in the economy.
Some are particularly hopeful for a bitcoin reserve.
Dennis Porter, the CEO of the Satoshi Action Fund, a pro-bitcoin advocacy organziation, wrote on X that "the anti-Bitcoin movement died" the night of the election.
"The USA will be the most pro-Bitcoin nation in the world," Porter wrote. "We will have a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve. We will enshrine a national law to defend Bitcoin Rights."
It marks a sharp change from the Biden administration, which has had somewhat icy relations with the crypto community.
Republicans targeted that as campaigning ramped up in the summer, writing on the party platform: "Republicans will end Democrats' unlawful and unAmerican Crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency."
"We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and transact free from Government Surveillance and Control," the platform read.