Optimism over Trump's crypto plans pushes Bitcoin beyond $96,000

SINGAPORE: Bitcoin's march toward $100,000 made further ground on Thursday as investors bet a friendlier US regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies under President-elect Donald Trump will unleash a boom era for the asset class.

Bitcoin prices topped $96,000 for the first time in Asia trade, touching a high just above $96,898.

The cryptocurrency's price has more than doubled this year and is up about 40% in the two weeks since Trump was voted in as the next US president and a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers were elected to Congress.

"While it's now firmly into overbought territory, it is being drawn toward the $100k level," said IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore.

Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

More than $4 billion has streamed into US listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds since the election. This week, there was a strong debut for options on BlackRock's ETF with call options - bets on the price going up - more popular than puts.

Crypto-related stocks have been soaring along with the bitcoin price and shares in bitcoin miner MARA Holdings were up nearly 14% overnight, while MicroStrategy, a loss-making software company that has been buying bitcoin, rose 10% to take its market capitalisation beyond $100 billion.

"Many are wondering if this administration will bring the regulatory clarity the crypto community has been waiting for. It's likely too soon to say," said Will Peck, head of digital assets at WisdomTree, a global exchange-traded fund issuer.

"We see all of this excitement as bullish not only for bitcoin or crypto broadly, but the entire blockchain-enabled ecosystem that is growing today."