The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that bitcoin more than doubled in 2024 driven by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval for exchange-traded funds tied to its spot price, and optimism over incoming president Donald Trump's pro-crypto stand. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that bitcoin hit $100,000 earlier this month, a milestone that has ignited "animal spirits" among supporters of the once-nascent asset class (all figures U.S.). A more than 120-per-cent surge in bitcoin this year and a nearly 50-per-cent jump in ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, have propelled the sector's market value to $3.5-trillion, according to CoinGecko data. More gains are in store for 2025. "We remain convinced $100,000 is not the final milestone. We expect Bitcoin to hit a cycle-high of $200,000 in late 2025," analysts at Bernstein said in a December note. MicroStrategy, a software firm that has become the world's largest corporate holder of bitcoin, has seen its shares surge nearly five-fold in 2024. Much of the optimism began in January when the SEC approved the first ETFs to track the spot price of bitcoin. The move gave the sector institutional legitimacy and improved its mainstream appeal.