MARKET NEWS

By Sunil Jagtiani

(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin approached the historic $100,000 level, fueled by optimism that President-elect Donald Trump’s support for crypto heralds a boom as the US pivots to friendly regulations in place of a crackdown.

The largest digital asset rose as much as 3.6% to a record $97,892 on Thursday before dipping below $97,000 as of 8:40 a.m. in London. The crypto market as a whole has gained approximately $900 billion since Trump’s Nov. 5 election win.

Trump’s transition team has begun to hold discussions over whether to create a White House post dedicated to digital-asset policy. The industry is pitching for the position — which would be the first of its kind in the US — to have a direct line to the president-elect, who is now one of crypto’s biggest cheerleaders.

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The talks are the latest US boost for digital-asset market sentiment, alongside Bitcoin accumulator MicroStrategy Inc.’s plans to accelerate purchases of the token and the debut of options on the nation’s Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Landmark Level

Speculators are increasingly focused on when, rather than if, Bitcoin will make the leap to $100,000. Advocates of its claimed role as a modern-day store of value cherish the six-figure number as a symbolic rebuttal of skeptics who see little utility in crypto and decry its links to money laundering and crime.

“Buyers are strangling the sellers,” said IG Australia Pty Market Analyst Tony Sycamore. “While I’m not sure it’s all going to be smooth sailing as it edges closer to the $100,000 mark, the demand appears to be insatiable.”

MicroStrategy, the largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin, on Wednesday announced an almost 50% increase in planned sales of convertible senior notes, to $2.6 billion, to fund purchases of the token. The once obscure software maker now bills itself as a Bitcoin treasury company and has a roughly $31 billion stockpile of the digital asset.

ETF Inflows

A group of one dozen US ETFs investing in Bitcoin have attracted a net inflow of $5.8 billion in the period following Election Day, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The group’s total assets have reached an unprecedented $100 billion.

Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, a provider of liquidity for crypto derivatives, described $100,000 as a “huge psychological level,” while adding that the pattern of bets in Bitcoin options had pointed to a pickup in volatility.

Trump has vowed to create a supportive US crypto regulatory framework and set up a strategic Bitcoin stockpile. The timeline for implementation of his promises and the feasibility of the Bitcoin reserve remain uncertain. 

The president-elect used to be a crypto skeptic but changed tack after digital-asset firms spent heavily during election campaigning to promote their interests. He also has his own digital-asset projects.

The current bout of optimism has dulled memories of a market rout in 2022 that exposed fraud and other risky practices and led to the collapse of platforms including Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. The turmoil precipitated a flurry of enforcement actions by the US Securities & Exchange Commission, a clampdown the industry expects will peter out under Trump.

--With assistance from Suvashree Ghosh and Adam Haigh.