Bitcoin climbed to an unprecedented high of $106,488.25 early Monday from its Saturday close of $6,100, with mounting institutional interest and comments from incoming President Donald Trump in support of founding a U.S. Bitcoin reserve.
The flagship cryptocurrency achieved the milestone at Trump’s announcement on Dec. 12 at the New York Stock Exchange, inspiring a 25-minute price rally, hitting at 4 AM UTC. The US wants to compete globally, so it plans to establish a strategic Bitcoin Reserve. “We’re gonna do something great with crypto. “we want to be ahead,” he told CNBC.
It has attracted a rush of investors and dovetails with Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis’ BITCOIN Act. One of the goals of this legislation is to have the U.S. government buy one million Bitcoins in the next five years to solve the country’s cumulative $35 trillion national debt.
In other geopolitical moves, the moment is reflected globally. ‘Bitcoin cannot be banned,’ Russian President Vladimir Putin hints at Bitcoin reserve. This was echoed by Russian Finance Minister Anton Tkachev, who suggested that a reserve would help weather the effects of international sanctions.
MicroStrategy Increases Hold of Bitcoin
However, the bullish sentiment did not stop at the Equity market, as MicroStrategy, the largest institutional Bitcoin investor, purchased 21,550 BTC for a price of $2.1 billion. The addition now takes its total Bitcoin holdings to 423,650 BTC. The company also says it will be included in the Nasdaq 100 when it lists on December 23.
Michael Saylor calls on the US Government to sell all of its gold and buy #Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/G25G6uXHOf
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) December 15, 2024
Investors have been gripped in fear of missing out (FOMO), with a historic total of $50 billion in cumulative inflows into U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs over 12 months. This growth in inflows constitutes growing confidence in Bitcoin as an institutional asset class.
Meanwhile, on-chain activity has proven to be the strength of Bitcoin. Glassnode data shows that the network’s hashrate, a gauge of computational power used to mine, soared to record highs above 804 EH/s from 128 EH/s when the year began. In particular, 37 percent of the total increase in computation was generated in 2024 alone.
The economic incentives sustaining the network’s security and scalability have already produced cumulative miner revenue of $71.49 billion.
What a whirlwind year it’s been for Bitcoin’s launch, from geopolitical endorsements to increasing adoption by institutions and people everywhere. In its latest surge, Bitcoin has cemented itself as a cornerstone of the world’s financial system and will rise even further.
The year is approaching its end, and analysts are still bullish on Bitcoin’s future. There are several reasons for this, such as continued institutional adoption, favorable regulatory moves on the horizon, and advancements in the blockchain infrastructure.
Bitcoin’s price breaking the six-figure mark has thrust the cryptocurrency into unchartered territory when it comes to reshaping the global economy.
