Bitcoin surges to over $109,000 just hours ahead of Trump’s inauguration

Washington: The price of bitcoin surged to over $109,000 early Monday, just hours ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, as a pumped up cryptocurrency industry bets he’ll take action soon after returning to the White House.

Once a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin “seems like a scam,” Trump has embraced digital currencies with a convert’s zeal. He’s launched a new cryptocurrency venture and vowed on the campaign trail to take steps early in his presidency to make the US into the “crypto capital” of the world.

His promises including creating a US crypto stockpile, enacting industry-friendly regulation and event appointing a crypto “czar” for his administration.

“You’re going to be very happy with me,” Trump told crypto-enthusiasts at a bitcoin conference last summer.

Bitcoin is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency and was created in 2009 as a kind of electronic cash uncontrolled by banks or governments.

It and newer forms of cryptocurrencies have moved from the financial fringes to the mainstream in wild fits and starts.