Bitcoin soared to a record high above $81,000 amid expectations that cryptocurrencies will boom following the election of Donald Trump as US president.

The world’s largest digital currency climbed as much as 6.1pc to a new record high on Sunday before hitting an unprecedented $81,899 overnight as the Republicans were on the cusp of sweeping both houses of Congress as well as returning their candidate to the White House.

The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency has now more than doubled from the year’s low of $38,505, after self-styled “crypto president” Mr Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency industry spent more than $119m backing pro-crypto congressional candidates and has, by and large, succeeded.

In Ohio, one of the crypto industry’s biggest foes in Congress - Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown was ousted, while pro-crypto candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties won in Michigan, West Virgina, Indiana, Alabama and North Carolina.

Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index, said: “Bitcoin’s Trump-pump is alive and well... with Republicans on the cusp of taking the house to confirm a red wave in Congress, it seems the crypto crowd are betting on digital-currency deregulation.”

Le Shi, Hong Kong managing director at Auros, said: “With the dust from Trump’s victory still settling down, it was only a matter of time before a run-up of some sort occurred given the perception of Trump being pro-crypto, and that’s what we’re seeing now.”

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