Bitcoin lifted above US$100,000 on firming expectations of Fed cut
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BITCOIN renewed a climb past US$100,000 after the latest US inflation data bolstered bets on another Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
The digital asset rose nearly 5 per cent on Wednesday (Dec 11) in the US, the most in two weeks, before paring some of the gain to change hands at US$100,665 as at 8.52 am on Thursday in Singapore. Smaller tokens traded in relatively tight ranges.
President-elect Donald Trump’s moves to undo a Biden administration crypto crackdown in favour of looser regulations helped to push Bitcoin to an all-time peak of US$103,800 on Dec 5. But the original cryptocurrency subsequently struggled to stay above the six-figure level as speculators took some profits.
US consumer-price inflation last month met forecasts, cementing expectations for a reduction in borrowing costs by the Fed next week. The prospect of looser monetary conditions soothed investor sentiment, sending the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 stock index to a record high.
“The market likes seeing inflation come in within expectations,” said Henry Elder, a principal at UTXO Management, adding that traders are “trying to figure out if US$100,000 is a ceiling or a floor”.
Aside from supportive regulations, Trump has also backed the idea of a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile, though many question the feasibility of the latter idea. The president-elect’s son, Eric Trump, said that his father is “going to be an unbelievable ally to the industry”.
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Donald Trump used to be a digital-asset sceptic, but pivoted as the industry spent big on promoting its interests during US election campaigning. The Republican now has his own projects in crypto, a controversial sector with a history of volatility, fraud and criminal activity.
Market leader Bitcoin is up roughly 50 per cent since Donald Trump’s victory in the US election on Nov 5, aided by a net inflow of about US$11 billion into US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the period. Equivalent products for Ether, the second-largest digital asset, have attracted US$2.4 billion. BLOOMBERG
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