Bitcoin has shattered the $100,000 milestone, riding a wave of investor confidence sparked by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto pivot.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency surged as high as $103,800 on Thursday, marking a 50 percent rise since Trump’s November election win.

The rally intensified after Trump nominated crypto advocate, Paul Atkins, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), signaling a shift toward a more favorable regulatory environment.

Atkins’ appointment, along with Trump’s pledge to make the U.S. “the bitcoin superpower of the world,” has electrified the market.

“Bitcoin reaching $100k is an incredible milestone for our movement,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com. “We never doubted. We never wavered. And we will never stop building.”

Trump’s crypto-friendly administration has also tapped Howard Lutnick for the Commerce Department and Elon Musk to co-lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” humorously dubbed “DOGE” after the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which has soared 150 percent since election day.

According to Financial Times on Thursday, this surge marks a stark contrast to the sector’s downturn two years ago, when the collapse of FTX and regulatory crackdowns sent Bitcoin plummeting to $16,000.

Now, institutional money is flowing in, with BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF alone managing $45 billion in assets.

Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, summed up the sentiment: “This bitcoin bull run is different. We have a pro-tech president-elect, a red Senate, a red House, and a mandate from the country to build.”

With $4.4 billion pouring into crypto ETFs since November, and companies like MicroStrategy planning to raise $42 billion for further Bitcoin investments, analysts predict a “golden era” for digital assets under the incoming administration.

Earlier reports had it that Bitcoin smashed through the $80,000 milestone, reaching an all-time high of $81,858 amid post-election optimism in the US, as pro-crypto policies appear more likely under Trump.

Barely three days after, the world’s largest cryptocurrency reached a record high above $90,000.

Meanwhile, a check (by Punch Online) as at 5.33am on Coin Market Cap placed the coin at $102,724.32 with over 7 percent increase in the last 24 hours.

Notably, Trump’s previous administration leaned heavily towards scepticism regarding digital currencies, but the president-elect has since embraced crypto, pledging to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet.”

CNBC noted that Trump had promised to retain “100 percent of all the Bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires in the future” and to dismiss SEC Chair Gary Gensler, whose tenure saw over 100 regulatory actions against crypto firms.

Despite the commencement of petrol production by two major refineries in Nigeria in the last three months, oil marketers have continued to import and distribute the product nationwide.

According to The Punch, marketers imported “2.3 billion litres” of petrol between September 11 and December 5, 2024.

The continued importation of petrol is contrary to a public announcement by some groups of marketers who earlier stated their intention to halt petrol imports and focus on domestic supply.

The local refineries are the 650,000 barrel per day capacity Dangote Petroleum Refinery located in Lagos and the 210,000bpd capacity Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State. PHRC currently produces from its old plant with a capacity of 60,000bpd.

The Dangote refinery began selling petrol in September, while the Area 5 facility of the Port Harcourt refinery started operations last Tuesday.

Despite this, recent findings (by The Punch) revealed that in the past three days alone, a total of 52,000 metric tonnes of petrol were brought into the country.

About “1322.76 litres” of petrol weighs one metric tonne. This implies that 68.74 million litres of imported fuel was brought in by dealers in three days.

For decades, Nigeria depended on the import of petroleum products to meet local demands. The situation remained even after the commencement of production by the Dangote refinery in September because of its price and insufficient output. During this period, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was the sole off-taker from the refinery.

But after intense discussions, the Federal Government, in a statement from the finance ministry on October 11, 2024, announced that oil marketers were now free to negotiate the purchase of petrol directly from the Dangote refinery without recourse to NNPC.

This allowed for direct negotiations. Already the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has signed an agreement with the refinery for product offtake, with negotiations ongoing with the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria.

Amid these, oil marketers promised to stop fuel imports and focus solely on domestic supply.

Last week, the PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, told our correspondent that its members would temporarily suspend the importation of petrol for the next 180 days due to the coming onstream of the Dangote and Port Harcourt refineries and production ramp-up plans by the refineries.

Similarly, major petroleum marketers announced a suspension of petrol imports following a significant boost in local supply from the Dangote Refinery, which has ramped up its operations.

The association, at a webinar last week, said its members have sourced a total of “148 million litres” of petrol from the Dangote refinery over the past 10 weeks, contributing to a major shift in the country’s fuel supply dynamics.

IPMAN is yet to secure an import licence.

But fresh findings, utilising documents obtained from the Nigerian Port Authority, on Wednesday, showed that marketers have continued fuel imports.

The products were conveyed in three vessels and berthed at the Apapa Port in Lagos State, Tin Can Port in Lagos State, and the Calabar Port in Cross Rivers.

An analysis of the document showed that on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, a ship named Binta Saleh carrying “12,000MT” (“15.864 million litres”) of petrol berthed at the Apapa port at 8:12 am. The vessel had Blue Seas Maritime as its agent and was handled at the Bulk Oil Plant terminal.

On Wednesday, December 4, 2024, another vessel named Shamal brought in “20,000mt” (“26.44 million litres”) of petrol through the Tin Can port at midnight. The ship was handled by the Peak Shipping Agency at Terminal KLT Phase 3a.

Similarly, another vessel named Watson will bring in “20,000MT” (“26.44 million litres”) of refined fuel today (Thursday) by 4:52 pm at the Calabar port. The agent, Kach Maritime, will handle the vessel at the Ecomarine Terminal.

This development indicates that the recent conversation organised by the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to eliminate the importation of petrol into the country may have ended in limbo.

The meeting attended by representatives of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, and key stakeholders from companies such as 11 Plc, Matrix, and AA Rano, was in growing confidence of Dangote Refinery’s ability to meet the nation’s domestic fuel demand and the need to cut fuel imports.

One of the major marketers who attended the meeting confirmed to our correspondents that the discussion was still ongoing on the plan.

In the month of September, precisely on September 18, three major oil marketers brought in 141 million litres following the full deregulation of the downstream oil sector by the Federal Government.

The marketer stated that each vessel would bring in about “35,000 metric tonnes” of PMS, making a total of “105,000 metric tonnes” (“141 million litres”).

Between October 1 and November 11, 2024, more than two billion litres of petrol were imported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and other marketers.

Documents obtained showed that NNPC and its partners imported “1.5 million metric tonnes” of PMS, “414,018.764 metric tonnes” of diesel, and “13,500 metric tonnes” of jet fuel. This is worth about “N3tn” or “$1.8bn.”

In October, NNPCL and its partners imported a total of “994,446.438 metric tonnes” of PMS, with Lagos receiving “555,121.617 metric tonnes,” Warri “281,100 metric tonnes,” Port Harcourt “94,224.821 metric tonnes,” and Calabar “64,000 metric tonnes.”

A total of “285,518.764 metric tonnes” of diesel was also imported, with Lagos receiving “162,500 metric tonnes,” Warri “58,500 metric tonnes,” Port Harcourt “56,018.764 metric tonnes,” and Calabar “8,500 metric tonnes.”

Between November 1 and November 11, a further “358,083 metric tonnes” of PMS, “112,500 metric tonnes” of diesel, and “13,500 metric tonnes” of aviation fuel were discharged at Nigerian ports.

Also, between November 23 and November 28, “78,800 metric tonnes” representing “105.67m litres” of petrol were discharged at the nation’s sea borders for onward distribution.

As part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to France, the Chairman of UBA Group, Tony Elumelu in the presence of President Tinubu and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, signed a landmark business cooperation agreement with the French Finance Minister, Antoine Armand.

The agreement is a significant indication of support by the French Government for the development of UBA’s full banking operations in France.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Tony Elumelu, the Chairman of UBA Group commented:
”This partnership reinforces our commitment to seamless international banking services for our customers, not just across the 11 Francophone African countries we serve, but Africa as a whole; and French and European customers transacting with Africa.

Expanding into France is a natural progression, with Paris serving as our European Union hub, as we continue to bring Africa and the world together, through innovative financial solutions. Paris will join London, New York and Dubai, as a critical component of our unique global network.”

United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group wide and serving over 45 million customers globally.

Operating in twenty African countries and the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.