Bitcoin sets another record as bullish bets continue

Cryptocurrency backers continue to bid up bitcoin prices, pushing the digital token to a new high of about $82,000 on Monday.

The cryptocurrency has surged since Election Day, on investor hopes that President-elect Donald Trump and his appointees would be friendlier to the industry after the Biden administration’s aggressive enforcement of securities law that targeted several crypto companies.

Cryptocurrencies have become a major component of the so-called Trump trade.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which got the regulatory green light to trade this year, have been booming over the past week. Crypto-related companies have also jumped in value: Riot Platforms, a bitcoin miner, is up 40% since Election Day and Coinbase, a crypto exchange, is up 50% over the same period.

The industry poured millions of dollars into the election. Prominent crypto executives, including Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of the Gemini crypto exchange, donated large sums to support Trump. A group of super political action committees also raised well over $100 million to elect pro-crypto congressional candidates.

“We’re witnessing some significant movements in the wake of the U.S. election,” said Nick Forster, founder of Derive, a decentralized finance protocol for options trading. Traders are placing large bets with a $100,000 call option expiring on Dec. 27, “a trade that has already seen a 30% increase in value, making it one of the largest notional trades and most profitable in recent weeks,” Forster added.

Just weeks before the election, Trump promoted a crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, in which several members of the Trump family have roles.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.