NEW YORK (AP) — Born from the ashes of the 2008 global financial crisis, bitcoin arrived after trust had withered in the financial system and in Washington's ability to protect those who must participate in it. Now, it's Washington's very embrace of bitcoin that's helping to send its price to records and lining the pockets of its believers.
Bitcoin briefly surged above $103,000 after President-elect Donald Trump said he intends to nominate Paul Atkins, a former regulator who's seen as friendly to crypto, as the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He would replace Gary Gensler, who critics say has been overly aggressive in his oversight of crypto.
It's the latest leg in an astonishing run for bitcoin, whose swings in price are already notoriously extreme.
Bitcoin has more than doubled this year, with a particularly big jump coming after Election Day, when its price was sitting below $70,000. During his campaign, Trump called for making the United States “the crypto capital of the planet."
The crypto industry, meanwhile, did its part to bring politicians friendly to digital currencies into Washington. Crypto corporations poured over $119 million into influencing federal elections in 2024, primarily into a political action committee dedicated to electing pro-crypto candidates and defeating crypto skeptics, according to a recent review by Public Citizen.
It's a large amount. Crypto companies accounted for 44% of all the corporate money contributed during this year’s elections, according to the consumer advocacy organization.
Such a tight embrace marks an interesting twist from bitcoin's early days, when someone or a group of someones under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto created a kind of electronic cash that wouldn't be beholden to any government or financial institution.
In the white paper announcing bitcoin, Namakoto said the traditional way of doing business on the internet “works well enough for most transactions.” But, Nakamoto said, it “still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model,” where a third party like a bank needs to process payments.
Instead, Nakamoto suggested harnessing computing power around the world as a way to create a digital currency that can’t be double-spent. “What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.” That is what became the bitcoin network.
Since then, bitcoin has moved from the financial fringes toward the mainstream, in jagged fits and starts. While it hasn't taken off as a way to pay for groceries, it found popularity as a kind of “digital gold,” or a way to store value in something that's not subject to the direct influence of a federal government or a central bank.
In its early days, it had a reputation for use by drug dealers, scammers, crypto enthusiasts, libertarians and others who were looking to move money without oversight by the government. Now, it's also found its way into more investor portfolios. Earlier this year, the SEC approved exchange-traded funds that track the spot price of bitcoin. Such ETFs give investors a relatively easy way to buy bitcoin directly in their existing trading accounts.
Through its life, bitcoin has soared through a series of manic bull runs as well as “crypto winters” that brought extreme declines. It went from just over $5,000 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to nearly $69,000 by late 2021, before crashing below $17,000 following hikes to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and the 2022 collapse of crypto exchange FTX.
With bitcoin in its latest bull run, the man who's about to roll into the White House seemed to take at least some credit.
“CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network. “$100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!!”
FILE - People arrive at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference on July 24, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
Erling Haaland’s failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes' latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants.
City dropped more points Thursday in its improbably poor run of form by drawing 1-1 at home to Everton, with Haaland having a spot kick saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 53rd minute.
The four-time defending champions have only won one of its last 13 games in all competitions and manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged he needs to spend in the January transfer window to reverse City's slide.
“The transfer window in the winter is not easy, but even the players know that we have to add some new players,” said Guardiola, who has had to cope without a host of key players, including Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, through injury this season.
While City is languishing in seventh place, United is even further adrift in 14th place after a 2-0 loss at lowly Wolverhampton.
United played almost the whole of the second half with 10 men after Fernandes collected his second yellow card in the 47th minute. It was the United captain's third sending-off of the season, though one was rescinded.
Second-place Chelsea also dropped points after conceding in the fifth minute of stoppage time to lose 2-1 at home to Fulham, giving Liverpool the chance to extend its lead to seven points by beating Leicester later.
Nottingham Forest won 1-0 against Tottenham to go up to third, while there were also victories for Newcastle and West Ham. Sixth-place Bournemouth drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace.
City secured only its fifth point in the league since the end of October but that will be scant consolation to Guardiola, whose beleaguered team squandered a winning position after going ahead through Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot in the 14th. Iliman Ndiaye equalized in the 36th.
Haaland’s penalty failure means the Norway international has only scored once in his last seven games. He headed in from the rebound after his spot kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Haaland, who last week admitted his form had not been good enough during a run that has seen City’s season unravel, held his head in his hands after his failure to score from the spot. He still has 18 goals in 25 appearances this season, but has not scored in a win for his club since the 1-0 victory against Southampton on Oct. 26.
“We shoot a lot in the 18-yard box, but unfortunately we could not get the results that we wanted,” Guardiola said.
City’s damaging run has seen it slip down the standings in the league and crash out of the English League Cup. It is also in danger of missing out on the playoffs for the round of 16 in the Champions League — sitting just one point above the cut-off point with two games to play.
Wolves' first goal against United came direct from a corner, with Brazil striker Matheus Cunha seeing his kick curl over the head of goalkeeper Andre Onana and into the far corner in the 58th minute.
Such goals are rare, though United also conceded from a corner in its 4-3 loss to Tottenham in the English League Cup this month. Son Heung-min scored on that occasion.
Wolves added a second through Hwang Hee-chan in the ninth minute of stoppage time and have won two straight games since Vitor Pereira was hired to replace Gary O'Neil. Cunha has 10 goals of the season.
Chelsea dropped points for the second time in as many games, with Enzo Maresca's team drawing 0-0 at Everton last week.
The Blues gave up a lead earned by Cole Palmer in the 16th as Harry Wilson equalized in the 82nd and Rodrigo Muniz grabbed the late winner for Fulham, which won at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 45 years.
Arsenal can now jump from fourth to second with a win against Ipswich on Friday.
Forest's remarkable season shows little sign of slowing down after Anthony Elanga's winner against Tottenham at the City Ground. Forest is a point behind Chelsea in third.
Villa was already a goal down to Newcastle after Anthony Gordon's strike in the second minute when Jhon Duran was sent off in the 32nd. Alexander Isak and Joelinton added goals for the hosts
West Ham had to cope with first-half injuries to defender Max Kilman and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, but still won 1-0 at Southampton after Jarrod Bowen's goal in the 59th.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Cunha, not in the picture, scores the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United at the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
Referee Tony Harrington, centre, gestures to Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, second from left, after being sent off during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United at the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes heads down the tunnel after being sent off during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United at the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen, bottom right, celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at St Mary's Stadium, in Southampton, England, Thursday Dec. 26, 2024. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes, centre, celebrates scoring his side's third goal of the game only to see it ruled out by VAR , during the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St. James' Park, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic and Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke, right, challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Fulham's Harry Wilson, center, celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva, center, is congratulated after scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola sits on the bench prior to the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Everton's Iliman Ndiaye celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Everton's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, center, reacts after saving a penalty kick by Manchester City's Erling Haaland during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland fails to score a penalty during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland reacts after failing to score a penalty shot during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
