- Title: 'New golden age for Bitcoin' - analyst on record-high market
- Date: 16th December 2024
- Summary: WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 16, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) WEDBUSH SECURITIES, GLOBAL HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DANIEL IVES, SAYING: “It's volatile. There's a lot of risk from Bitcoin, Regulatory environment continues to still be choppy. But the path for Bitcoin, it's much more positive and blue skies today than some stormy clouds that we'v
- Embargoed: 30th December 2024 17:35
- Keywords: BITCOIN Donald Trump Elon Musk above $107.000 market record high reserve
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Currencies/Foreign Exchange Markets,Economic Events,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA001752916122024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Bitcoin's record rally topped $107,000 on Monday (December 16) after President-elect Donald Trump reiterated that he plans to create a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve similar to its strategic oil reserve, stoking the enthusiasm of crypto bulls.
Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, extended gains to a session high of $107,148 and was most recently at $106,877, up 5.43% from late Friday (December 13).
“This is a new golden age for Bitcoin,” said Wedbush Securities, Global Head of Technology Research, Daniel Ives. “I think when you look at what's happening in the Beltway under Trump, you're going to have a deregulatory environment, which is a huge positive.”
Bitcoin and crypto have been catapulted into the spotlight as investors wager the incoming Trump administration will usher in a friendlier regulatory environment, boosting sentiment around the alternative currency. Bitcoin is up about 150% in 2024.
"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 told CNBC late last week.
When asked if he plans to build a crypto reserve similar to oil reserves, Trump said: "Yeah, I think so." He advocated the same thing earlier this year.
Bitcoin has surged more than 50% since the Nov. 5 election that saw Trump elected along with many other pro-crypto candidates. The total value of the cryptocurrency market has almost doubled over the year so far to hit a record over $3.8 trillion, according to CoinGecko.
Trump - who once labeled crypto a scam - embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet."
Trump this month named a White House czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, former PayPal executive David Sacks, a close friend of Trump adviser and megadonor Elon Musk.
Trump also said he would nominate pro-crypto Washington attorney Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Governments around the world held 2.2% of bitcoin's total supply as of July, according to data provider CoinGecko, with the United States possessing nearly 200,000 bitcoins valued at more than $20 billion at current levels.
China, UK, Bhutan and El Salvador are the other countries with a significant amount of bitcoins, data site BitcoinTreasuries showed.
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