Bitcoin has surged to fresh highs, topping $106,000 on Monday.
Bitcoin briefly crossed the $106,000 mark before settling at $104,601, up 2.4% for the day.
The cryptocurrency’s meteoric rise since early November has been fueled in part by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance.
The president-elect has vowed to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet” and backed the creation of a “strategic bitcoin reserve” earlier this year.
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Weeks after the election, J.D. Seraphine, CEO of crypto-based AI validation platform Raiinmaker, told Newsweek that “Trump’s victory has certainly accelerated price movement” for Bitcoin, maintaining that there was “a great deal of hype surrounding Trump coming into office and creating regulatory clarity for cryptocurrency in the U.S.”
With his pick of blockchain advocate Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, traders are anticipating a lighter regulatory environment for digital currencies.
Bitcoin, which traded below $70,000 before the election, has soared over 50% since Trump’s victory.
The rally comes as markets in Asia and Europe faltered on lackluster economic data from China and broader uncertainty about the global economic outlook.
Global Markets Retreat
While Bitcoin continued to climb, traditional markets painted a bleaker picture.
Germany’s DAX slid 0.4% to 20,333.79 in early European trading, while France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.8% to 7,347.16. London’s FTSE 100 also fell, down 0.4% to 8,268.12.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index remained largely flat, closing at 39,457.49, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% to 19,795.49.
China’s Shanghai Composite edged 0.2% lower to 3,386.33 following disappointing economic data showing retail sales growth had slowed and factory output stagnated in November.
Home sales also declined, with Chinese authorities citing a “complicated external environment” as a potential drag on future performance.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% to 2,488.97 as the Constitutional Court met to discuss whether to remove impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office or reinstate him.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.6% to 8,249.50, and India’s Sensex lost 0.5%.
Wall Street’s Mixed Signals
U.S. stock futures were slightly up, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.2% and Dow Jones futures rising 0.1%.
It was a volatile week on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 posted a slight weekly loss despite nearing record territory.
Investors are cautiously eyeing the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting, with expectations that policymakers will cut interest rates for a third time this year.
Oil and Currency Markets
In commodity markets, U.S. crude oil fell 75 cents to $70.54 per barrel, while Brent crude dropped 61 cents to $73.48 per barrel.
In currencies, the U.S. dollar weakened slightly against the Japanese yen, trading at 153.86 yen, while the euro edged up to $1.0492.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
