Bitcoin breaks above $95,000 for the first time as post-election momentum continues

The price of bitcoin reached the $95,000 level for the first time ever on Wednesday night on Coinbase, marking a new all-time high for the world's largest cryptocurrency. The world's largest cryptocurrency has risen 40% over the past month and is up more than 105% in 2024.

"With the approval of options on Bitcoin ETFs, we’re not just seeing the maturation of the crypto ETF market—we're watching Bitcoin cement its place alongside stocks, bonds, and commodities as a mainstream institutional investment," Nathan McCauley, CEO and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital, said in a statement.

Options on spot Bitcoin ETF products officially went live this week, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (ticker IBIT) getting things started on Tuesday followed by Bitwise and GrayScale's ETFs joining the fray on Wednesday.

"Final tally of $IBIT's 1st day of options is just shy of $1.9 billion in notional exposure traded via 354k contracts. 289k were Calls and 65k were Puts," Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart said Tuesday . "That's a ratio of 4.4:1. These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new bitcoin all-time highs today."

The market's recent momentum kickstarted on Nov. 5, when pro-crypto Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election. The President-elect's team is reportedly considering creating a position focused on crypto policy, which would be a first for the White House.

Industry experts vary on when they think the $100,000 milestone will be breached, but the consensus appears to be that it will happen within the next two months — if not sooner.

"We are not seeing strong FOMO from wealth managers and retail has just started paying attention. So, the trend is still young. We believe real FOMO will come once $100K is crossed," Tides.Network CEO Chandra Duggirala told The Block earlier this month.

At time of publication, bitcoin traded around 95,000, up 2.9% over the past 24 hours. The GMCI 30 , which represents a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, was up 0.18% to 170.11.