Bitcoin prices topped $98,000 for the first time during European trading, and were last up around 4% on the day
Bitcoin’s march toward $100,000 gathered pace on Thursday as investors bet a friendlier U.S. regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies under President-elect Donald Trump will unleash a boom era for the asset class.
Bitcoin prices surged above $98,000 for the first time during European trading hours, and were last up around 4% on the day.
The cryptocurrency’s price has more than doubled this year and is up about 40% in the two weeks since Trump was voted in as the next U.S. president and a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers were elected to Congress.
“While it’s now firmly into overbought territory, it is being drawn toward the $100k level,” said IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore.
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.
More than $4 billion has flowed into the U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds since the election. This week, options on BlackRock’s ETF made a strong debut: People betting that bitcoin prices would rise had snapped up more call options than puts.
Crypto-related stocks have jumped with the bitcoin price and shares in bitcoin miner MARA Holdings were up nearly 14 per cent overnight while MicroStrategy, a loss-making software company that has been buying bitcoin, rose 10 per cent to push its market capitalisation above $100 billion.
“Many are wondering if this administration will bring the regulatory clarity the crypto community has been waiting for. It’s likely too soon to say,” said Will Peck, head of digital assets at WisdomTree, a global exchange-traded fund issuer.
“We see all of this excitement as bullish not only for bitcoin or crypto broadly, but the entire blockchain-enabled ecosystem that is growing today.”
