NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bitcoin rallied to a fresh all-time high on Thursday helped by rising demand from institutional investors as well as friendly policies of the administration of U.S. President
Bitcoin Reaches New High Amid Surge in Institutional Interest
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Bitcoin rallied to an all-time high on Friday, powered by demand from institutional investors and crypto-friendly policies from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.
The world's largest cryptocurrency rose to a peak of $116,781.10 in the Asian session on Friday, taking its gains for the year so far to more than 24%. It was last trading at $116,563.11.
"Bitcoin's new all-time high is being driven by relentless institutional accumulation - major players are scooping up supply and drying up liquidity on exchanges," said Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association.
In March, Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies. He has also appointed several crypto-friendly individuals, including Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and White House artificial intelligence czar David Sacks.
Trump's family businesses have also made forays into cryptocurrencies. Trump Media & Technology Group is looking to launch an exchange-traded fund to invest in multiple crypto tokens including Bitcoin, an SEC filing on Tuesday showed.
Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, similarly jumped nearly 5% to $2,956.82, after earlier hitting a five-month high of $2,998.41.
(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York and Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Richard Chang, Christian Schmollinger and Kate Mayberry)
