Bitcoin eyes $100K as new crypto options fuel the trading frenzy
Proof of something working… The price of bitcoin passed $99K Thursday, hitting a fresh high for the fourth day straight. The crypto is up 43% since the US presidential election, with some traders now eying a $100K price target. The momentum came the same week a new way to bet on BTC went live: options on spot bitcoin ETFs.
Crypto’s got options: Approved by the SEC this fall, bitcoin ETF options products (from companies including BlackRock, Bitwise, and Grayscale) let traders speculate and hedge their crypto in a new way.
Buy in: Experts say the total potential value of options on BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF amounted to an “unheard of” nearly $1.9B in its first day, which could be driving BTC’s price pop.
Addin’ ETFuel to the fire… This week’s crypto-options debut is a big feather in bitcoin’s market cap, but not the only one. Enterprise-software biz MicroStrategy said it purchased $4.6B worth of bitcoin last week, bringing its total stash to about 331K coins. And this week, President-elect Trump nominated crypto advocate Howard Lutnick for the role of commerce secretary. His admin is also said to be considering a “crypto czar” position. Meantime, US bitcoin ETFs passed the $100B mark in total assets held, seeing $773M in net inflows on Wednesday alone.
Team efforts break records… Bitcoin’s been on a tear, but sticking the $100K price landing is no guarantee. Mike Novogratz, the CEO of blockchain biz Galaxy Digital, said yesterday that there’s likely a price correction coming. Plus, concerns that Trump’s proposed tariffs could spike inflation have some worried about the Fed tightening its rate policy, which could hurt digital assets’ appeal.