Bitcoin touches record high on optimism around US regulations
Bitcoin briefly hit an all-time high after the advancement of stablecoin legislation in the US stoked hopes of regulatory clarity under President Donald Trump.
The largest cryptocurrency climbed as much as 2.7 per cent to a record $US109,856, before paring much of the gain while broader financial markets retreated. The previous high was set at roughly the time of Trump's inauguration on January 20. Smaller tokens such as Ether and XRP also gave back modest increases.
Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have rallied in recent weeks thanks to regulatory tailwinds including the stablecoin bill advancing in the US Senate after a group of Democrats dropped their opposition Monday. The industry-backed regulatory bill is now set for debate on the Senate floor with a bipartisan group hoping to pass it as soon as this week.
'It's the shift of approach from Gary Gensler and the SEC to this Trump administration, which has embraced our industry,' Michael Novogratz, founder and chief executive of Galaxy Digital, said during a Bloomberg TV interview on Wednesday.
'That freed up the animal spirits both here and abroad.'
The terms of the proposed legislation were revised to include tighter restrictions on money laundering, foreign issuers, technology companies and improved consumer protections. It would also ensure domestic and foreign issuers both face the same rules.
Bitcoin was christened as a haven by some market participants during the financial markets turmoil spurred by the introduction of Trump's trade tariffs. That narrative has gained traction as of late as fractious US budget negotiations keeps a focus on the growth in deficit spending.
'We're in a really hard position in this country when you have this kind of debt. And you're seeing it with long ends of interest, yield curves selling off everywhere, the dollar is under pressure,' Mr Novogratz said. 'That is all good for Bitcoin and crypto assets as well.'
Options traders have already built bullish positions on Bitcoin earlier this week with the $US110,000 calls, $US120,000 and $US300,000 expiring on June 27 seeing the most open interest, or the number of outstanding contracts on Deribit.
Demand for short-dated calls that are expiring before late June with the strike prices above $US110,000 has surged in the past 24 hours, according to Amberdata.
Liquidations in both bullish and bearish bets on crypto assets remain moderate amid the breakout with about $US200 million in the past 24 hours, according to data compiled by Coinglass.
Open interest — or outstanding contracts — for Bitcoin futures hosted by Chicago-based CME Group has seen a 23 per cent recovery from a year-to-date low in April, while investors have poured about $US3.6 billion into a group of a dozen US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds so far in May.
Bitcoin has risen about 14 per cent so far this year, outperforming other risk assets such as US stocks. The Nasdaq 100 index is down around 2 per cent since December.
Helping to drive the outperformance has been surging demand from Michael Saylor's Strategy and other companies seeking to emulate its Bitcoin buying strategy. The former software maker, until recently called MicroStrategy, has stockpiled over $US50b worth of the token.
Bitcoin miners, a flurry of obscure small-cap companies and public firms newly formed by crypto heavyweights are offering anything from convertible bonds to preferred stocks, giving different flavours of Bitcoin exposure to investors.
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.
The jump to a fresh record high 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.
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