Unstoppable momentum of Bitcoin: Can Trump use it to reduce budget deficit?

[Anchor]

Due to the effect of Trump's election, Bitcoin is breaking its all-time high day after day.

U.S. President-elect Trump has stated that he will loosen regulations on virtual currencies and use them to reduce government debt, but can we really expect results as he claims?

This is Park Il-jung from New York.

[Report]

The price of one Bitcoin is nearing $82,000.

It has risen more than 20% compared to before the U.S. presidential election.

This is thanks to President-elect Trump's supportive promises for the virtual currency industry.

He plans to purchase virtual currencies as part of strategic reserve assets like gold, immediately fire Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has regulated the virtual currency industry, and encourage Bitcoin mining within the U.S.

There are now industry predictions that it will exceed $100,000.

[Mackenzie Sigalos/CNBC Reporter: "He (Trump) will spend money on building out a robust energy production and transmission infrastructure in the U.S. to make it more competitive in AI and on Bitcoin."]

During his first term, Trump was negative about virtual currencies, but he changed his stance after meeting with industry stakeholders during the campaign.

He stated that this could help resolve the U.S. government debt, which amounts to $35 trillion.

[Cynthia Lummis/U.S. Senator/Republican: "This Bitcoin is going to be transformative for this country. As President Trump just said, we are printing too much money."]

However, it remains uncertain whether Bitcoin will actually be helpful.

First, the U.S. government's Bitcoin holdings account for only 0.05% of the total debt.

Additionally, if the virtual currency market, which is difficult for the government to control, grows, it could diminish the effectiveness of the Federal Reserve's policies, which may shake the status of the dollar as the reserve currency.

Therefore, there are critical views that Trump's promises will only benefit investors who already own virtual currencies.

This is Park Il-jung from KBS News in New York.