Why Bitcoin Surged to an All-Time High on Wednesday

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President Trump has embraced cryptocurrencies and ordered the creation of a U.S. bitcoin reserve.

Key Takeaways

• The price of bitcoin soared to an all-time high of nearly $110,000 on Wednesday, surpassing its previous record touched right before President Donald Trump’s January inauguration.
• Cryptocurrency has become increasingly mainstream this year as Congress has made progress on crypto legislation and traditional financial giants have embraced digital assets.
• About $6.5 billion has flowed into the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust in the last month, making it the U.S. ETF with the fifth-largest inflows so far this year.

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) soared to a fresh record on Wednesday amid increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies on Capitol Hill and Wall Street.

Bitcoin jumped as high as $109,900 around midday Wednesday, surpassing the previous record reached in the lead-up to President Trump’s inauguration in January The digital currency slipped to around $108,000 in recent trading, tracking a decline in U.S. stocks.

Once a fringe financial asset dismissed by the mainstream, cryptocurrencies have gained new legitimacy this year thanks to the support of President Trump and several allies in Congress. The Senate on Monday voted to advance a bill that establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins, putting the upper chamber of Congress on track to pass its first piece of cryptocurrency legislation. And earlier this year President Trump ordered the Treasury to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Washington’s acceptance of cryptocurrency has accelerated the finance industry’s own embrace of digital assets. On Monday, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, a longtime crypto skeptic, said the bank would allow clients to buy bitcoin. Several other major financial institutions, like investment bank Morgan Stanley and asset manager BlackRock, have already waded into crypto offerings.

Bitcoin ETFs saw substantial inflows in the last month as investors piled into risk assets amid easing trade tensions. Investors have pumped an estimated $6.5 billion into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the last month, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. That influx of money has pushed it up to 5th from 47th in the ranking of U.S. ETFs with the greatest year-to-date inflows.

The price of bitcoin has also been supported by surging demand from Bitcoin Treasurys, publicly traded companies that use proceeds from equity sales to purchase bitcoin for corporate treasuries. Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR), which originated the scheme, purchased $765 million worth of Bitcoin last week, bringing the value of its Bitcoin holdings to more than $63 billion. Last month, a blank check company headed by Brandon Lutnick, the son of President Trump’s commerce secretary, announced it would launch a Strategy competitor called Twenty One.

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