NEW YORK: Bitcoin’s record-breaking rally took the digital asset past US$89,000 and lifted the overall value of the crypto market above its pandemic-era peak as traders bet on a boom under President-elect Donald Trump.

The largest token has jumped about 30% since the US election on Nov 5 and hit an all-time high of US$89,599 yesterday. The climb then moderated, leaving the cryptocurrency at US$87,800 in Singapore.

Trump has vowed friendlier crypto rules and his Republican party is tightening its grip on Congress to push through his agenda. Other pledges include setting up a strategic US bitcoin stockpile and boosting domestic mining of the token.

His stance is a sharp break from a crackdown on the divisive industry by the Securities & Exchange Commission under President Joe Biden’s administration.

The shift has energised speculative buying of large and small tokens alike, raising the value of digital assets to about US$3.1 trillion, CoinGecko data showed.

Bitcoin is in “beast mode”, Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group, wrote in a note.

“The question for traders not already set is whether there is still room to chase this red-hot play or wait for a slight retracement and for some of the heat to come out of the impulsive trend.”

In the options market, investors are lining up bets that bitcoin will pass US$100,000 as soon as the end of the year, according to data from the Deribit exchange.

Meanwhile, software firm MicroStrategy Inc, the largest publicly-traded corporate holder of bitcoin outside the exchange-traded fund (ETF) sector, bought about 27,200 bitcoin for some US$2bil between Oct 31 and Nov 10.

Traders for now are paying little heed to questions such as how quickly Trump will implement his agenda or whether a strategic stockpile is a realistic step.

Bitcoin has more than doubled so far in 2024, helped by robust demand for dedicated US ETFs and interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The rise in the token exceeds the returns from investments such as global stocks and gold.

Fairlead Strategies LLC technical analyst Katie Stockton in her latest research note said “it would be natural to see a period of digestion after such a steep run-up,” recommending a “short-term neutral bias”.

Digital asset companies spent heavily during the US election campaign to boost candidates viewed as favourable to their interests. Against that backdrop, Trump did an about-face, becoming a supporter of an industry he once labelled a scam.

His backing turned bitcoin into one of a range of so-called Trump trades. Others include US stocks and the US dollar, both of which have also been advancing given Trump’s focus on domestic economic growth, tax cuts and protectionist tariffs.

 - Bloomberg