Bitcoin soared past the $106,000 mark at the Singapore market open on December 16, according to data on Coinmarketcap. At 6:10 a.m., it was at 106,449.88, reaching an all-time record high of $106.533 before slipping below the $105,000 mark in the morning.
At the time of writing at 9 am on December 16, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency was at $104,866.90, according to data on Coinmarketcap. This is still a 3.11 per cent increase from the previous day.
The token has also seen its market capitalisation increase by 3.12 per cent from the previous day to $2.07 trillion on December 16, data showed. Notably, Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 56 per cent in the cryptocurrency market space, an increase of 0.29 per cent over the day.
The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin
Bitcoin surged to a record high above $106,000 in early Asian trade as United States President-elect Donald Trump spoke of plans to create a Bitcoin strategic reserve for the country, along the lines of the strategic oil reserve, Reuters reported.
Speaking to CNBC Trump 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,.” When asked about a crypto reserve similar to oil reserves, Trump said: “Yeah, I think so.”
Overall, Bitcoin has surged more than 50 per cent since Trump won the 2024 US Presidential elections on November 5. The total value of the crypto market has almost doubled over the year so far to hit a record over $3.8 trillion, according to data provider CoinGecko.
Longest Winning Streak Since 2021
According to a Bloomberg report, the token on December 15 also “cemented” a seven-week winning streak — its longest such run since 2021.
Not just Bitcoin, the world second biggest crypto Ether also rose nearly 3 per cent to $4,014, the news agency said.
US exchange-traded funds (ETFs) inflows into Bitcoin were $12.2 billion since Trump’s November win. Subscriptions for similar products for Ether have reached $2.8 billion over the same period.
(With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg)
