Bitcoin tops US$110,000 for first time as US optimism lifts crypto
[KUALA LUMPUR] Bitcoin surpassed US$110,000 for the first time to head towards another record high, with traders increasingly bullish on the prospects of the original cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin climbed as much as 2.2 per cent in early Asian trading on Thursday (May 22) to hit US$110,707, before paring gains, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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 crypto operators. Surging demand from Michael Saylor's Strategy – which has stockpiled over US$50 billion worth of Bitcoin – and a growing list of digital-asset 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 to finance.
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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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 the potential conflict of interest. BLOOMBERG
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