Bitcoin (BTC) continued to march higher on Friday as the largest crypto asset remained just shy of $100,000-milestone, which was expected post the US election results. The 14-year old digital token topped the $99,300 mark on Friday. The much awaited $100,000-mark is on the card, believe the crypto experts and enthusiasts.
According to the data from Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin rose as much as 4 per cent in the last 24 hours to hit $99,314.95 as of Asian hours. Its day's low stood at $95,656.35. The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was marching close to the $2 trillion mark but was capped at $1.97 trillion for the day.
According to data, Bitcoin registered a volume growth of 9 per cent as BTC worth 95.84 billion exchanged hands in the last one day. Bitcoin, whose supply is capped at a maximum 21 million, currently has 19.79 million Bitcoins mined, circulated and available to trade thus far. Bitcoin has gained over 48 per cent since November 5, when the US election results were announced.
Bitcoin has been rallying higher as the Republican Party's Donald Trump swept US election and is set to swear in as the next president of the United State. Trump has openly declared his support for crypto assets earlier this year. He also received strong support from world's richest man Elon Musk, who is fondly seen as a staunch crypto supporter globally.
Bitcoin has hit a new all-time high and is capturing the attention of investors worldwide. Over the past two to three weeks, the world’s largest crypto has been on an upward trajectory, consistently hitting new price peaks and now approaching the highly anticipated $100,000 psychological threshold, said Sumit Gupta, Co-founder at CoinDCX.
"The recent surge has been further fueled by developments in the US political landscape, Digital assets have already benefited from the incoming administration of President Trump, with many anticipating that his potential second term could bring more favorable regulatory policies for the crypto sector," he said.
As per Coinmarketcap, the total market capitalization of all the crypto assets rose nearly 4 per cent to hit the $3.3 trillion mark. The total trading volume of the crypto market surged nearly 25 per cent to $244.41 billion in the last 24 hours. However, the total dominance of Bitcoin the crypto space slipped below 60 per cent, as other assets marched higher as well.
The Bitcoin rally was driven by increased trading volumes in the 'Bitcoin Industrial Complex' and the news of Trump’s media company filing for a trademark for a crypto payments service, lifting the market sentiment, said Edul Patel, Co-founder and CEO at Mudrex.
"Despite the rally, Bitcoin’s market dominance has dipped, signaling growing strength in altcoins like Ethereum, Doge, Solana and XRP jumping upto 25 per cent in a day. BTC now faces critical resistance at $99,950 before breaking into the six-figure territory, with strong support holding at $95,000," he said.
Beside Bitcoin, other leading digital assets including Ethreum and Solana rallied up to 9 per cent, while XRP zoomed 28 per cent. Cardano rose 13 per cent. Dogecoin, BNB, Shiba Inu, Toncoin, Chainlink and a few more leading tokens rose 3-6 per cent each.
As Bitcoin flirts with the $100,000 mark, the global narrative is shifting from speculation to adoption, said WazirX's Market Desk. "The increased institutional appetite is insatiable, with Texas proposing a Bitcoin reserve and China's courts recognizing Bitcoin as legal property, the geopolitical significance is highlighted for it," it said.
Despite this rise in the Bitcoin prices,, the Union Finance Ministry has stated that the Centre will adhere to global regulations on crypto assets, regardless of the current surge or hype.