Topline
Bitcoin led a broader cryptocurrency market rally Friday, boosted by encouraging economic data and reports about what President-elect Donald Trump may do to bolster the digital asset when he takes office next week.
Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July.
Key Facts
Bitcoin rose to more than $105,000 by early afternoon, notching its highest price since Dec. 18.
The world’s largest crypto token is up more than 15% from its two-month low of below $90,000 hit Monday.
Other major digital assets have also jumped from their Monday lows, including ether, which is up 17% from the start of the week, XRP, which is up 38%, and Solana, which is up 28%.
The recovery is part of a broader bounce across financial markets after a Wednesday inflation report reignited interest rate cut prospects, sending the U.S. stock benchmark S&P 500, which is up 28% since Tuesday, toward its best week in more than two months.
And reports about what Trump may pursue shortly upon his Monday inauguration further accelerated the rally.
Trump plans to sign an executive order designating crypto a national priority and establishing a crypto advisory council, Bloomberg reported Thursday afternoon, and a much awaited national bitcoin stockpile could be a part of the order signed as soon as Monday, according to the report.
The New York Times also reported Thursday that Trump’s proposed bitcoin reserve, which would allow the federal government to buy and sell bitcoin, is under consideration for a crypto executive order he could sign, and the Times shared a pair of papers from bitcoin advocacy groups outlining how Trump could establish such a stockpile.
Big Number
$400 billion. That’s about how much market capitalization the global crypto market has added since Monday, rising from $3.41 trillion to $3.81 trillion, according to CoinGecko.
Key Background
Bitcoin accounts for 54% of the crypto market, with a market cap of more than $2 trillion, more than Tesla’s. Asked last month if he’d establish a bitcoin stockpile akin to the government’s strategic petroleum reserve, Trump said “I think so.” Trump shifted from bitcoin bear to bull between presidential terms, as many of the younger figures in his orbit have publicly embraced crypto, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, who owns $250,000 to $500,000 worth of bitcoin, according to his latest financial disclosures. Bitcoin prices surged after Trump won in November, up 51% since Election Day, as crypto investors embraced the prospect of federal government support for the token and looser financial regulation.
Crucial Quote
The national bitcoin stockpile “has to answer many non-trivial questions” before becoming reality, including what government entity would oversee the reserve and how it may “undermine the strength of the dollar,” wrote Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani in a note to clients next week. It will likely take the stockpile “longer than 2025 to answer these questions and actually start buying bitcoin,” noted Chhugani, who has a highly bullish $200,000 price target for bitcoin.
