Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is in focus as President-elect Trump reportedly considers crypto enthusiast Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The cryptocurrency pulls back after peaking when South Korea declared martial law, only to lift it hours later. Kraken head of strategy Thomas Perfumo joins Seana Smith and Madison Mills on Catalysts to discuss bitcoin’s function in investors’ portfolios amid global political turmoil headed into Trump’s second term in the White House.

“A geopolitical event taking place and bitcoin trading up or down, to me, isn’t necessarily validation that it’s reacting to that news. Specifically, when I think about bitcoin’s movements more recently, it’s very much tied to capital net inflows,” Perfumo says, explaining, “I’m looking at ETF flows. I’m looking at any kind of buying practices coming out of MicroStrategy (MSTR) … and also options activity on [the iShares Bitcoin Trust] IBIT itself has been picking up pace since it launched a couple of weeks ago.”