U.S. media reports say the price of bitcoin topped 100,000 U.S. dollars for the first time on Wednesday, and traded at around 103,000 dollars at 8:54 a.m. ET Thursday.

The cryptocurrency officially rose to six figures Wednesday night, just hours after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he intended to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to be the next chair the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

NBC News reports that since Trump won the U.S. presidential election on November 5, bitcoin has surged more than 45 percent, and year to date, prices have more than doubled.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that according to CoinDesk, the asset climbed from US$69,374 on Election Day, hitting as high as 103,713 dollars on Wednesday, according to CoinDesk.

Just two years ago, bitcoin dropped below US$17,000 dollars following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, according to AP. 

CNN says Atkins, a crypto advocate and former SEC commissioner, is expected to regulate cryptocurrency with a lighter touch than Gary Gensler, who leads the commission under the Biden administration.  Gensler, who aggressively fought the industry’s expansion in the US, is reportedly set to resign on Inauguration Day.

In basic terms, cryptocurrency is digital money. This kind of currency is designed to work through an online network without a central authority -- meaning it's typically not backed by any government or banking institution -- and transactions get recorded with technology called a blockchain.

Bitcoin is the largest and oldest cryptocurrency, although other assets like ethereum, tether and dogecoin have also gained popularity over the years. Some investors see cryptocurrency as a "digital alternative" to traditional money, but the large majority of daily financial transactions are still conducted using fiat currencies such as the dollar, according to the Associated Press report.