Bitcoin rally takes largest token past US$111,000 for first time
[SINGAPORE] Bitcoin surpassed US$111,000 for the first time, with traders increasingly bullish on the prospects of the original cryptocurrency amid mounting institutional demand.
Bitcoin climbed as much as 3.3 per cent on Thursday (May 22) to hit a record of US$111,878, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Smaller tokens also rose, with second-ranked Ether at one point up about 5.5 per cent.
A wave of optimism is buoying Bitcoin after the advancement of a key stablecoin Bill in the US senate fuelled hopes of greater regulatory clarity for digital-asset firms under President Donald Trump, who is avowedly pro-crypto. Surging demand from Michael Saylor's Strategy – which has stockpiled over US$50 billion worth of Bitcoin – and a growing list of token hoarders is another driving force behind the rally.
'It has been a slow motion grind into new all-time highs,' said Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX 'There's no shortage of demand for BTC from Spac and PIPE deals, which is manifesting in the premium on Coinbase spot prices.'
Such buyers include a flurry of obscure small-cap companies and public firms newly formed by crypto heavyweights which are financing their purchases by offering anything from convertible bonds to preferred stocks.
An affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald is working with stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings and SoftBank Group to launch Twenty One Capital, a company that emulates Strategy's business model. A subsidiary of Strive Enterprises co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy is merging with Nasdaq-listed Asset Entities to form a Bitcoin treasury company.
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'Unlike previous cycles, this rally is not momentum-driven alone,' said Julia Zhou, COO of crypto market maker Caladan. 'It is quantitatively underpinned by measurable, persistent demand and supply dislocations.'
Bitcoin's outperformance relative to smaller cryptocurrencies is widening. An index that tracks so-called altcoins is down about 40 per cent year-to-date, while Bitcoin is up 17 per cent so far in 2025.
A group of 12 US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have drawn strong inflows, with investors pouring in about US$4.2 billion so far in May. In options markets, traders built eye-catching Bitcoin positions earlier this week with the US$110,000, US$120,000 and US$300,000 calls expiring on Jun 27 logging the most open interest – or number of outstanding contracts – on Deribit, the derivatives exchange.
Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said in a note that the fresh record shows that Bitcoin's steep decline from a previous high set on Jan 20 to below US$75,000 in April was 'a correction within a bull market.'
'A sustained break above US$110,000 is needed to trigger the next leg higher towards US$125,000,' he added.
Bitcoin's latest milestone comes as Trump prepares to meet with the biggest holders of his memecoin at a dinner at his golf club just outside Washington on Thursday. The event has raised concerns among ethics experts, who argue that it offers access through transactions that directly benefit the president, and has sparked criticism over potential conflicts of interest.
Such events 'highlight crypto's increasing cultural visibility, though they have not had a measurable impact on market dynamics at this stage,' said Yuan Rong Tan, a trader at QCP Capital. BLOOMBERG
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