Bitcoin hits record above $109,000 awaiting Trump

Bitcoin hit a record high above $109,000 on Monday as Donald Trump, who has signaled plans to deregulate the cryptocurrency sector, prepares to be sworn in as U.S. president.

Bitcoin surged to reach an all-time peak of $109,241 ahead of Trump's inauguration ceremony, before falling back to $107,765 at around 0740 GMT.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency has soared since Trump won the presidential election in November, with bitcoin surpassing $100,000 for the first time in early December.

It came after he nominated cryptocurrency backer Paul Atkins to head the U.S. securities regulator, reinforcing optimism the new president will deregulate the sector.

Despite having once branded cryptocurrencies a "scam", Trump changed his stance and was a major advocate of them during his election campaign.

Over the weekend, he launched his own cryptocurrency, appropriately called $TRUMP, sparking feverish buying that sent its market capitalization soaring to several billion dollars.

When bitcoin reached the landmark $100,000 level, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU'RE WELCOME!!! Together, we will Make America Great Again!"

Cryptocurrencies have made headlines since their creation, from their extreme volatility to the collapse of several industry giants, foremost among them the FTX exchange platform.

Bitcoin was conceived in 2008 by a person or group writing under the name Satoshi Nakamoto.

It was pitched as a way to break free of mainstream financial institutions by establishing a decentralized platform for transactions.

The digital currency is created — or "mined" — as a reward when powerful computers solve complex problems to validate transactions made on a meddle-proof register known as the blockchain.

Bitcoin has long been criticized for being the currency of choice for making untraceable payments on the so-called dark web, a hidden part of the internet used for criminal activities.

The asset has often come under attack for facilitating money laundering and allowing extortion through ransomware attacks.

Its carbon footprint has also come under scrutiny because mining cryptocurrencies requires huge amounts of energy.