Bitcoin tops $106,000, hopes grow for strategic reserve

By Kevin Buckland and Ankur Banerjee

(Reuters) -Bitcoin hit a record high above $106,000 on Monday after President-elect Donald Trump suggested 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, hit a high of $106,533 and last traded up 2.6% at $103,917 at 1215 GMT. Smaller crypto ether was up 0.4% at $3,918.

“We’re in blue sky territory here,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG. “The next figure the market will be looking for is $110,000. The pullback that a lot of people were waiting for just didn’t happen, because now we’ve got this news.”

Investor sentiment also got a lift from the inclusion of MicroStrategy into the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index that will likely lead to more inflows for the software firm turned bitcoin buyer.

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 alternate currency. Bitcoin is up 192% for the year.

“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.”

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.

Other countries have also been considering cryptocurrency strategic reserves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month said the current U.S. administration was undermining the role of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency in the global economy by using it for political purposes, forcing many countries to turn to alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies.

“For example, bitcoin, who can prohibit it? No one,” Putin said.

There are skeptics though, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell likening bitcoin to gold earlier this month. Analysts also point out that any such move will take time to implement.

“I think we still need to be cautious on a BTC strategic reserve, and at least consider that this is not likely to happen anytime soon,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

“Of course, any comment from Trump that offers an increased degree of hope that plans for a strategic reserve are evolving are an obvious tailwind, but this would come with consequences which would need to be carefully considered and well telegraphed to market players.”

CRYPTO BOOST

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 labelled 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.

On Friday, exchange operator Nasdaq said MicroStrategy, led by chief executive Michael Saylor, will be added to the Nasdaq-100 Index, with the change coming into effect before the market opens on Dec. 23.

MicroStrategy, an aggressive investor in the world’s largest crypto asset, has seen its shares soar more than six-fold this year, taking its market value to almost $94 billion. It is now the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.

As part of the Nasdaq 100, investors would buy MicroStrategy shares to mirror the holdings of the broader index, thereby driving up the value of the stock and allowing the company to buy more crypto, through debt and equity offerings, Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at crypto asset manager Astronaut Capital, said.

“The inclusion seems a bit unexpected, but that hasn’t stopped the excitement of what many believe to be the start of a looping cycle of capital that could potentially drive up the spot bitcoin price,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Kevin Buckland in Tokyo, Ankur Banerjee in Singapore, Amanda Cooper in London and Medha Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Louise Heavens and Ros Russell)