Bitcoin Reaches Record High Near $95K Amid Trump Interest in Crypto

Bitcoin and the global cryptocurrency market reportedly hit record highs Wednesday (Nov. 20).

Bitcoin hit a record high of $94,982.37 before dipping to $93,709, a figure that was still up 1.6%, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The value of the global cryptocurrency market also hit a record high of over $3 trillion, the report said, citing analytics and data aggregator CoinGecko.

Bitcoin was already on the rise after the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, with traders expecting the crypto sector to benefit from President-elect Donald Trump’s support of cryptocurrencies, according to the report. Bitcoin is up more than 40% since the election.

The report attributed bitcoin’s latest rise to media reports that Trump’s social media company is considering buying crypto trading firm Bakkt and that Trump was meeting privately with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.

The Financial Times reported Monday (Nov. 18) that Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) was in advanced talks to buy Bakkt, which was created and is owned by Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

TMTG, which operates social media platform Truth Social, has become one of the most actively traded stocks since Trump’s election victory and is now valued at $6 billion — enabling it to buy other companies. An acquisition of Bakkt would move TMTG into new areas.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Trump was meeting with Armstrong to discuss the incoming administration’s personnel appointments.

Trump said during the election that if elected, he would form a presidential advisory commission focused on bitcoin and crypto and with developing transparent regulatory guidance in the sector.

Coinbase aims to force the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create new rules for digital assets. It sued the SEC last year after the regulator denied the company’s petition for new rulemaking, seeking to compel it to do so.

The cryptocurrency exchange said in September that it planned to continue its “elevated policy spend” beyond the presidential election as it faces issues in other parts of the world.

The crypto sector also got a boost from a Tuesday (Nov. 19) debut of options trading for BlackRock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Nasdaq, per the Reuters report.