Bitcoin hit a new record high on Monday, rising above $106,000 for the first time ever on the back of further pro-crypto comments from US President-elect Donald Trump.
The cryptocurrency reached a value of $106,195 in the early hours of the morning, before losing some of its gains.
On Monday afternoon tit was back on the rise, reaching a new high of $106,320.90, or £83,972.80.
The spike came after Trump told CNBC that he might create a US strategic bitcoin reserve.
He said: ‘We’re gonna do something great with crypto because we don’t want China or anybody else – not just China but others are embracing it – and we want to be the head.’
Trump’s plan could be to emulate the US’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the form of bitcoin. The token has a maximum total supply of 21million, with 19.9million already in existence.
However, with a limited supply of the coins, a US reserve of Bitcoin could make it more difficult for investors to trade.
On the rise: Following Trump’s election in November, Bitcoin has surged as investors hope for deregulation
Data from BitcoinTreasuries reveals as many as 13.9 per cent of all Bitcoin are currently owned by governments.
The US and China hold the largest amounts, with the US owning some $20.7billion, just under 200,000 coins, while China owns 190,000 of the tokens.
Trumps words came alongside the news that software firm MicroStrategy is set to become a consistent of the Nasdaq 100 index, which also helped to push up bitcoin’s value.
MicroStrategy owns some 425,000 bitcoin, currently worth around $45billion, making it the largest corporate owner of the crypto and holder of around 2 per cent of the token’s total market value.
Simon Peters, Etoro market analyst, said: ‘With MicroStrategy being added to the Nasdaq 100 index, this could trigger substantial buying of the stock as passive investment products that track the Nasdaq 100 index would need to also be rebalanced to now include it.’
Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has rapidly been rising in value since Trump’s election, and is up 190 per cent in 2024.
It smashed through the $100,000 barrier a week ago after the incoming president said he would nominate Paul Atkins to replace incumbent Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner Gary Gensler.
Crypto as a whole has been on the rise in recent weeks, boosted by the ‘Trump trade’, as investors look towards potential deregulation in crypto under the new president.
Current SEC commissioner Gensler is widely reviled by crypto-investors as a result of his perceived negative view of crypto and enforcement approach to the currencies.
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