SINGAPORE – US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of a crypto proponent to be the next head of the US securities regulator lifted Bitcoin to within a whisker of a record US$100,000 as traders warmed to the prospect of relaxed regulations.

The largest digital asset rose more than 3 per cent to US$99,226 at one point in the United States on Dec 4 before easing to US$98,451 early in Asian trading on Dec 5.

The crypto market overall has jumped by roughly US$1.4 trillion (S$1.88 trillion) since Trump’s US election victory on Nov 5 on a platform that includes a tight embrace of crypto.

Trump selected Paul Atkins to replace outgoing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler, who cracked down on digital assets…