Fueled by President-elect Trump’s victory and the stock market’s upward momentum, Bitcoin surpassed $80,000 on Sunday — a new all-time high.

Investors expect the cryptocurrency to reach six-figures sooner rather than later.

VanEck CEO Jan van Eck, in a TV appearance, predicted Bitcoin (BTC) could be valued as half of all the gold outstanding.

“I think Bitcoin will hit all-time highs today, and I think it will go further. Ultimately, I think bitcoin’s value will be half of all the gold outstanding, so you’re talking about around $300,000 for Bitcoin.”

Why only half?

Because it’s a “reasonable base assumption,” Van Eck added. Van Eck made the comment when Bitcoin surpassed $77,700 just days after the U.S. presidential election. See below.

Bitcoin bull run

Investors have been piling into ETFs, sending Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) on a bullish path.

Then there was crypto’s role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which went from cameo to scene-stealer. In the months leading up to Election Day, the mass media published one neck-and-neck poll after another. But Polymarket — a crypto-betting site — proved to be the more accurate gauge for which candidate voters preferred.

For what it’s worth, Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to embrace digital assets as an emerging technology. Ultimately, it was Donald Trump’s pandering that won over a majority of this particular slice of the electorate — a group that had made their frustrations toward the Biden administration and the SEC known.

Recall his previous administration. Trump disavowed Bitcoin at the time. But after losing the 2020 election and being saddled with legal fees, cash was needed for a re-election campaign. The then-Republican candidate saw an opportunity: capitalize on the crypto hype.

Trump sold non-fungible tokens (NFTs); hawked Bitcoin-themed sneakers; made a guest appearance at a Bitcoin conference; and promised to make the U.S. a crypto mining capital (the U.S. already does the most mining).

He and his eldest sons even launched their own coin, World Liberty Fi.

In the weeks leading up to Nov. 5, crypto analysts predicted that a Trump win would yield crypto-friendly policies and send the price of Bitcoin soaring to $80,000, or $100,000 — maybe $250,000.

As this week tees off, with clarity on who will be sworn into the White House come January, it appears that Bitcoin is indeed on that trajectory.