(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin closed in on the historic $100,000 level, fueled by optimism that President-elect Donald Trump’s support for crypto heralds a boom because the US pivots to friendly regulations rather than a crackdown.
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The biggest digital asset rose as much as 3.6% to a record $97,892 on Thursday and hovered near that peak as of 6:25 a.m. in London. The crypto market as a complete has gained roughly $900 billion since Trump’s Nov. 5 election win.
Trump’s transition team has begun to carry discussions over whether to create a White House post dedicated to digital-asset policy. The industry is pitching for the position — which could be the primary of its kind within the US — to have a direct line to the president-elect, who’s now certainly one of crypto’s biggest cheerleaders.
The talks are the most recent US boost for digital-asset market sentiment, alongside Bitcoin accumulator MicroStrategy Inc.’s plans to speed up 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, reasonably 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 unsure it’s all going to be smooth sailing because it edges closer to the $100,000 mark, the demand appears to be insatiable.”
MicroStrategy, the biggest 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 gaggle of 1 dozen US ETFs investing in Bitcoin have attracted a net inflow of $5.8 billion within the period following Election Day, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The group’s total assets have reached an unprecedented $100 billion.
“The large psychological level of $100,000 is now in sight,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, a provider of liquidity for crypto derivatives. The pattern of bets in Bitcoin options signals “the market is anticipating a fast break higher,” she added.