Cryptocurrency prices upshifted yet again Thursday as bitcoin extends its postelection rally, notching a record high above $99,000.
Bitcoin Thursday afternoon spiked to $99,027, CoinDesk data showed, posting yet another all-time high after the U.S. elections registered a broad victory for Republicans. Bitcoin held around $98,000 late Thursday. The world's largest cryptocurrency has rallied 134% so far this year.
Some analysts expect bitcoin to hit $100,000 by year-end, a target now easily in reach. Bernstein expects bitcoin to reach $200,000 by 2025.
"Bitcoin has continued with the charge to fresh record highs, seemingly on a mission to take out the much talked about psychological barrier at $100,000," Joel Kruger market strategist at LMAX Group wrote to IBD. Kruger noted that as of early Thursday, bitcoin is up 64% in Q4. Meanwhile, bitcoin has averaged more than 80% returns in the fourth quarter since 2013.
"The reason we bring this up is not to say the market is overextended, rather to highlight the possibility we still have more room to run in 2024," Kruger wrote, referencing the historical returns. "This leaves bitcoin with another 16% to match those average returns, which suggests we could see an overshoot of $100,000 and through $110,000 before the year is out."
The latest record high follows a push from the start of options trading for spot bitcoin ETFs this week, led by BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF on Tuesday. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin launched options trading Wednesday.
Those launches came after the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) on Nov. 18 announced it was preparing for the investment vehicles.
Bitcoin ETF Flows
The iShares Bitcoin Trust for its Tuesday launch tallied exposure of nearly $1.9 billion with 354,000 contracts traded, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. The action included 289,000 calls and 65,000 puts, representing a 4.4:1 call-to-put ratio. That indicates more investors banking on a bitcoin price increase than decline.
"These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new bitcoin all time highs," Seyffart wrote. Fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the trading volumes "unheard of" for the first day.
Meanwhile, the spot bitcoin ETFs registered nearly $1.86 billion in inflows this week through Wednesday, Farside Investors data showed. IBIT led with $931.9 million in inflows, followed by FBTC at $450 million. Since their June launch, the bitcoin ETFs generated a total of $29.32 billion in inflows, with IBIT leading at $30.2 billion. The total has been offset by GBTC, which has seen $20.25 million in outflows.
Trump Prioritizes Crypto
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump appears to be making good on his campaign promises to prioritize crypto.
Trump earlier this week said he plans to nominate Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to head the Department of Commerce, tasked with administering tariffs and investigating trade practices. Lutnick, an outspoken crypto advocate and cochair of Trump's transition team, may also play a role in setting policies for the digital asset industry. During the annual bitcoin conference earlier this year, Lutnick called Cantor Fitzgerald the "best investment bank for digital assets," and it also serves as the custodian for Tether, one of the most widely-used stablecoins, Barron's reported.
Lutnick also at that conference said he is "a fan" of bitcoin and "of course" he owns bitcoin.
The Trump team is also considering a new White House crypto role, which would be the first of its kind and solely focused on cryptocurrency policy, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources. The Trump transition team is reportedly vetting candidates, with crypto industry advocates pushing for the role to have a direct line to the president.
And Trump appears to be taking the industry advice into consideration. Trump on Monday spoke with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and discussed the broader crypto industry, Fortune reported citing an unnamed source. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the two would meet, potentially to discuss cabinet picks.
The primary focus for the industry now is who Trump will appoint to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities and Exchange Futures Commission, according to Fortune's sources.
Elsewhere, Truth Social parent Trump Media & Technology is reported closing in on a deal to acquire crypto trading firm Bakkt, according to reports earlier in the week.
Crypto Prices And Stock Action
Ethereum peaked at $3,387 on Thursday and has surged 32% over the past month. Ethereum has rallied 46% so far this year, reaching a 52-week high of $4,090 in March. The No. 2 crypto is still well below its November 2021 peak above $4,800.
IBIT and the spot bitcoin ETFs popped 4% Thursday, with most registering five consecutive daily advances. Shares of the bitcoin ETFs are trading near record highs.
MicroStrategy reversed for a 16% decline Thursday after rallying 13% in the morning. Shares are up nearly 17% so far this week. The company on Nov. 18 announced it acquired another 51,780 bitcoin for around $4.6 billion, worth roughly $88,627 per coin. On Monday, it also filed to raise $1.75 billion in a private offering in order to buy more BTC. Chairman Michael Saylor announced Wednesday that MicroStrategy increased the offer to $2.6 billion due to high demand.
As of Nov. 17, MicroStrategy holds 331,200 bitcoin acquired for $16.5 billion at about $49,874 per coin. MSTR shares are up 137% from an Oct. 11 breakout.
Coinbase stock retreated almost 8% Thursday after surging more than 3% premarket.
Bitcoin miner Mara Holdings pared gains to 7%, closing in on a 26.19 buy point for a handle. Core Scientific climbed 1.7% and hit a record high of 18.36 intraday Thursday.
Rival bitcoin miners Hut 8, Hive Digital, Bit Digital, Riot Platforms and CleanSpark also reversed lower following an early surge.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
