BITCOIN hit US$95,000 for the first time as the digital-asset sector moves to cement its influence with Donald Trump by pushing for a new White House post dedicated to cryptocurrency policy.
Trump’s team is holding discussions about whether to create such a role and the industry is pitching for the position to have direct access to the president-elect, who is now one of crypto’s biggest cheerleaders.
The talks are the latest US boost for digital-asset market sentiment, alongside Bitcoin accumulator MicroStrategy’s plans to accelerate purchases of the token and the debut of options on the nation’s Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
The largest digital asset rose more than 2 per cent in the US on Wednesday (Nov 20) and extended the gain early in Asia on Thursday to a record high of US$95,004. The crypto market as a whole consolidated gains after a more than US$800 billion jump since Trump’s election victory on Nov 5, based on data from CoinGecko.
Speculators are increasingly focused on whether Bitcoin will make a further leap to US$100,000. Advocates of its claimed role as a modern-day store of value cherish the six-figure level as a rebuttal of sceptics who see little utility in crypto and decry its links to money laundering and criminal activity.
“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 US$100,000 mark, the demand appears to be insatiable.”
MicroStrategy, the largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin, on Wednesday announced an almost 50 per cent increase in planned sales of convertible senior notes, to US$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 US$31 billion stockpile of the digital asset.
Trump has vowed to create a supportive US regulatory framework for digital assets and set up a strategic Bitcoin stockpile. The timeline for the implementation of his promises and the feasibility of the Bitcoin reserve remain uncertain. The president-elect used to be a crypto sceptic but changed tack after digital asset firms spent heavily during election campaigning to promote their interests. BLOOMBERG
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