Cryptocurrency prices continued rallying Friday, with bitcoin hitting a new record high above $77,00 as the U.S. election registered a broad victory for Republicans. Ahead of the voting, analysts had generally expected the price of bitcoin to rally regardless of the election's outcome.
Bitcoin spiked Friday afternoon to a new record of $77,252 according to CoinMarketCap, continuing to notch new highs throughout the week. The move topped the cryptocurrency's previous all-time high of $73,798 from March 14.
"We continue to see plenty of support around crypto assets in 2024, including what promises to be a friendly incoming U.S. administration, whoever it might be," Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group wrote to IBD. "Indeed, Trump has been decidedly more crypto-friendly. At the same time, this has forced the hand of the Harris campaign to take on its own crypto-friendly policies, all of which have been supportive in the lead up to the November election."
Kruger early Tuesday had noted a lot of the uncertainty in the global markets centered around U.S. election risk. But he did not expect much downside impact, other than short-term volatility, in the immediate aftermath.
"We believe the most important takeaway with respect to the election is what we've already learned over the past several weeks — namely, the fact that both parties have recognized the important innovation in the space, while showing a clear willingness to support the emerging industry and asset class," Kruger added.
Meanwhile, Kruger and LMAX forecast a "stellar" Q4 performance from bitcoin following a solid start to the year, setting the stage for a record high. Kruger points to $100,000 as the next major milestone, potentially before the year is out.
Elsewhere, Bernstein predicts bitcoin could hit $200,000 in 2025, also regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's election. A lack of U.S. fiscal discipline, record debt levels and monetary expansion have driven up demand for hard assets, analysts wrote in a research note obtained by The Block. The success of spot bitcoin ETFs further accelerated the trend with enough headroom for growth, Bernstein wrote.
The crypto markets haven't yet priced in a victory for either candidate, Bernstein analysts assess. They expect bitcoin could reach $80,000 to $90,000 by Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 in the case of a Trump win. A Harris victory could prompt a drop to $50,000 over that period before recovering, according to the firm.
"We think once there is a clear winner, bitcoin will rally strongly," Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, wrote to IBD, noting that occurred 4 years ago. However, Sigel believes that ethereum, solana and other alternative cryptocurrencies may require a Trump victory to outperform.
Bitcoin Election History
James Van Straten, a senior analyst at CoinDesk, noted that the U.S. election has been a catalyst for bitcoin price surges, but those returns are diminishing. The price of bitcoin rocketed about 12,000% between Nov. 5, 2012 and November 2013. Following the 2016 election, bitcoin appreciated about 3,600% by December 2017. Bitcoin rallied 478% in the 12 months following the 2020 election.
Extending the prior trends implies a postelection rally of about 47.8%. That puts bitcoin around $103, 500 in Q4 of 2025, Van Straten wrote.
Bitcoin Price, Crypto Action
Bitcoin on Friday rallied as high as $77,525. BTC had touched a low for the week of just above $67,000 on Monday.
The world's largest cryptocurrency has soared 82% so far this year.
Ethereum peaked at $2,983 on Friday, surpassing its Oct. 20 high near $2,750. Ethereum climbed about 28% in 2024 after reaching a 52-week high of $4,090 in March.
Coinbase stock vaulted about 48% on the week, which include a strong rebound off its 50-day line. Shares of the crypto exchange tumbled almost 11% last week after Coinbase missed Q3 earnings views.
Spot bitcoin ETFs and bitcoin miners also saw strong strong post-election gains.
Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital, Iren, Hut 8, Core Scientific, Bit Digital and CleanSpark rocketed during the week, with gains ranging from about 20% to 31%.
Spot bitcoin ETFs rallied around 11% throughout the week as crypto prices jumped.
Payment Stocks Jump
Meanwhile, related payment stocks saw strong gains Wednesday following election results.
Block popped 6.8% Wednesday to clear a 75 buy point for a cup-with-handle base.
PayPal swung 2.8% higher, moving above its 21-day exponential moving average as it continues to rebound off its 50-day line.
Card giants Visa and Mastercard surged as well. Visa shares rallied 4.8% Wednesday to jump above a buy zone for a cup-with-handle base. MA stock advanced 3% to extend out of its cup base buy zone.
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