Bitcoin Surges to Record High Above $105,000, Boosted by Trump's Pro-Crypto Comments

Bitcoin hit a high of $105,142 and last traded at $104,609. The price rose on news reports over the weekend that Trump would go ahead with a bitcoin strategic reserve fund.

Bitcoin soared to a record peak above $100,000 on Monday, lifted by President-elect Donald Trump’s comments that he plans to create a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve, similar to its oil reserves.

Bitcoin hit a high of $105,142 and was last up 0.5% at $104,609.

News reports over the weekend that Trump will create a bitcoin strategic reserve fund helped boost the cryptocurrency’s price, said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG.

“We’re in blue sky territory here,” said Sycamore. “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.”

Bitcoin has surged more than 50% since the Nov. 5 election that saw Trump, along with several other pro-cryptocurrency candidates, get elected.

“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 in an interview late last week.

When asked if he plans to build a crypto reserve, similar to oil reserves, Trump said: “Yeah, I think so.”

The cryptocurrency industry spent over $119 million to back pro-cryptocurrency U.S. congressional candidates, hoping to get those who will pass crypto-friendly bills to promote digital assets elected.

This month, Trump 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.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Lincoln Feast)