Bitcoin soars to $104,000, up 126% since January 1
The price of Bitcoin hit US$100,000 for the first time in history on Thursday, thanks to demand from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which has led to tightening of supply after Bitcoin’s fourth halving in April and Donald Trump's US election win.
According to a Cointelegraph report, the price of Bitcoin reached around $104,000 (3.55 million baht) on Thursday morning, up 126% compared to January 1 when it was trading at around $44,000 (1.50 million baht).
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation has also hit a new high, reaching $2 trillion (68.30 trillion baht) for the first time.
Trump’s promise to launch a strategic Bitcoin reserve has contributed to a surge in the asset price, after he recently nominated crypto advocate Paul Atkins as chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The appointment of Atkins is expected to remove several regulatory hurdles that hamstrung the broader cryptocurrency industry under the Biden administration.
Bitcoin has also gained positive sentiment from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s remark during The New York Times-hosted DealBook Summit in New York on Wednesday.
“People use Bitcoin as a speculative asset. It’s just like gold, only it’s virtual, it’s digital,” he said. “People are not using it as a form of payment or as a store of value. It’s highly volatile. It’s not a competitor to the dollar. It’s really a competitor to gold.”
The cryptocurrency market has witnessed significant growth over the past few years, as major institutional investors like BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and Invesco launched Bitcoin ETFs early this year.
