SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Bitcoin rose to a record high above $94,000 as a report that Donald Trump’s social media company was in talks to buy crypto trading firm Bakkt added to hopes of a cryptocurrency-friendly regime under the incoming Trump administration. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has more than doubled this year. It […]
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Bitcoin rose to a record high above $94,000 as a report that Donald Trump’s social media company was in talks to buy crypto trading firm Bakkt added to hopes of a cryptocurrency-friendly regime under the incoming Trump administration.
Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has more than doubled this year. It was last at $92,104 in Asian hours on Wednesday, having touched a record high $94,078 just toward the end of the previous session.
The Financial Times, citing two people with knowledge, said Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates Truth Social , is close to an all-stock acquisition of Bakkt, which is backed by NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange.
Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said bitcoin’s rise to a record high was supported by the Trump deal talk report as well as traders taking advantage of the first day of options trading on the Nasdaq over BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF .
Cryptocurrencies have soared since the Nov. 5 U.S. election as traders bet President-elect Trump’s promised support for digital assets would lead to a less restrictive regulatory regime and inject some life back into bitcoin after a listless few months.
The growing excitement has taken the global cryptocurrency market’s value above $3 trillion to a record high, based on analytics and data aggregator CoinGecko .
Chris Weston, head of research at Australian online broker Pepperstone, said there is real underlying buying pressure for bitcoin, and “another kick higher should bring in a fresh chase from those who like to buy what’s strong”.
(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
