Bitcoin hits new all-time high on Trump presidential victory

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions,  subscribe .

Those who bet that a Trump victory — or at least the first inklings of one — would fuel a new all-time high for bitcoin were right.

Bitcoin markets soared just after 10 pm ET on election night, briefly surpassing $75,000. It was a remarkable move to correspond with a remarkable political comeback for Trump, who earlier this morning was projected to win enough Electoral College votes to become the 47th president of the United States.

According to TradingView data, bitcoin crossed $70K during the morning voting hours before slipping back beneath that level for much of the afternoon trade. As the polls closed on the East Coast, bitcoin regained that level and has held it since. 

Over in equities, pre-market moves indicate that US indices will open in the green. The Dow appears poised to open up just over 3% as of the time of writing, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq primed to open 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

Crypto equities appear set for a strong performance today. Coinbase looks set to open up more than 12% at $217.8 after closing Tuesday at $193.96. MicroStrategy’s pre-market trading performance suggests a similarly strong open, up nearly 12%.

Perhaps the strongest market performer on Election Night was Polymarket, which had indicated a Trump win heading into the vote. Trump’s odds hit 90% as bitcoin’s price crested and stayed above that level throughout the duration of the night. The election results hewed closer to the Polymarket odds than those of many polls heading into Election Day. 

With this morning’s victory call, Théo, the French Polymarket whale , might have had the best night of all, having potentially more than doubled his $30 million stake.

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter .

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter .

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.