Bitcoin broke through the US$90,000 level, to an all-time high in a rally showing no signs of easing on expectations that Donald Trump as US president will be a boon for cryptocurrencies.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency has become one of the most eye-catching movers in the week since the election and on Wednesday (Nov 16) touched a record of US$93,480 before paring gains.
It was last down slightly at US$88,185, but has risen 32 percent since the Nov 5 election.
Smaller peer ether has also risen 37 percent since Election Day, while dogecoin, an alternative, volatile token promoted by billionaire Trump-ally Elon Musk was up more than 150 percent.
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.
It is unclear how or when that could happen but the possibility drove a speculative surge in crypto mining and trading stocks.
Software company and bitcoin investor MicroStrategy announced it had spent about US$2 billion buying bitcoin between Oct 31 and Nov 10. Shares scaled a record high on Tuesday.
“With bitcoin reaching US$90K and hitting a new all-time high, investors should be cautious about the potential volatility ahead,” said Georgi Koreli, CEO of Hinkal, a blockchain-based private trading platform. “This doesn’t mean that we will not see US$95K or even US$100K soon, but rather that BTC might pause or slide back to regain its strength.”
