Bitcoin Touches Record High, Eyes $100,000 Mark

This illustration shows a coin imitation of the Bitcoin crypto currency, Nov. 22, when it continued its march higher to move within touching distance of the $100,000 mark.

Bitcoin rose 0.5% on Friday, pulling back slightly from a fresh record high above $99,000 as the cryptocurrency remained on track to add about 10% for a third straight week.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, pulled back a touch on Friday after earlier hitting a fresh record high above $99,000.

By 11:25 a.m. ET, bitcoin was trading up 0.5% on the day at $98,499. The cryptocurrency was still set for a third straight week of plus 10% gains. It is also on track for its best monthly performance since February.

Bitcoin’s gains this year have made it one of the stand-out winners of so-called “Trump trades” — assets that are seen as winning or losing from Trump’s policies.

The cryptocurrency also appears on the cusp of mainstream acceptance since its creation 16 years ago.

“The longer it survives it is taken more seriously, that's just the reality of things,” said Shane Oliver, chief economist and head of investment strategy at AMP Sydney.

“As an economist and investor I find it very hard to value it… it's anyone's guess. But it does have a momentum aspect to it and at the moment the momentum is up.”

Indeed, bitcoin is up around 130% this year.

Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

Crypto investors see an end to increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after Chair Gary Gensler said on Thursday he would step down in January when Trump takes office.

Under Gensler, the SEC sued exchange Coinbase, Kraken, Binance and others, alleging that their failure to register with the agency violated SEC rules, accusations the companies deny and are fighting in court.

Still, the approval of U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January this year helped boost the market.

The SEC had long attempted to block ETFs from investing in bitcoin, citing investor protection concerns, but the products have allowed more investors, including institutional investors, to gain exposure to bitcoin.

More than $4 billion has streamed into U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds since the election.

U.S.-listed crypto stocks, which have rallied in recent days, were steadier on Friday as the price surge paused.

But people were continuing to trade. Software firm Microstratgy, which has repeatedly raised funds to buy bitcoin and is a major holder of the asset, rose 2.6% in robust premarket trading.

About $645 million worth of Microstrategy shares had changed hands by 0525 GMT, well above those in heavyweights Nvidia, Tesla or Apple, according to Refinitiv LSEG data. (