Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High as More Wall Street Players Pile into the World's Top Currency

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high on Wednesday amid optimism that more Wall Street players are piling into the world's top currency.

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high on Wednesday amid optimism that more Wall Street players are piling into the world’s top currency.

It’s now trading at more than $109,000, according to prices on top crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance.

The last time the asset, which has a $2.1 trillion market value, traded near this altitude was just before pro-crypto President Donald Trump took office in January.

“Bitcoin’s steady ascent has been driven by corporate, institutional, and even government adoption,” Ben Caselin, the chief marketing officer of crypto exchange VALR, told DL News.

Caselin joined Bernstein analysts in predicting that Bitcoin could hit $200,000 by the end of the year.

The surge caps an especially stormy period for Bitcoin. After Trump hit dozens of nations, including Canada and Mexico, with steep tariffs in April, Bitcoin sank as low as $76,300.

In the last few weeks, the cryptocurrency reversed course and rebounded.

The upshot of this white knuckle ride: crypto investors now have to watch Trump’s every move.

Replace Satoshi?

Institutional investors are also increasingly buying digital assets as expectations mount for new exchange-traded funds pegged to Solana and XRP.

Ten global asset managers now collectively hold $60 billion worth of Bitcoin via exchange-traded funds, said Bernstein analysts.

That’s a five-fold increase from September 2022.

“We expect Wall Street to replace Satoshi as the top Bitcoin wallet,” they added, referring to Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s mysterious founder who holds over $115 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.

Trump’s tumultuous ride

In addition to his trade war, the president threatened to fire Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, and is seeking a massive tax cut that would decrease government revenue by $4.5 trillion and put further pressure on the dollar.

Indeed, last week Moody’s downgraded the US’s triple-A credit rating, and yields on Treasuries spiked in a sign investors are concerned about the fiscal health of the world’s biggest economy.

Yet some macro uncertainty has eased as Trump has retreated on his aggressive tariff policy, including a truce with China.

Other developments also spurred a rebound in Bitcoin in other cryptocurrencies.

Landmark legislation

The US Senate is moving swiftly to pass landmark legislation for issuers and managers of stablecoins. Other bills in the House of Representatives on stablecoins and market structure are also getting hearings.

Investors are also betting on at least one rate cut from the Fed by September, which tends to spur bullishness or risk-on assets like crypto and stocks.

Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? Get in touch at liam@dlnews.com.