Bitcoin continues to rise.
The world’s leading cryptocurrency hit new records above $106,000 in Asian trading on Monday.
This defied the predictions of some analysts, who expected a pullback after bitcoin crossed the $100,000 threshold.
This is the Donald Trump effect.
Bitcoin rebounded after comments from the president-elect, who suggested he could create a strategic bitcoin reserve in the United States, similar to existing oil reserves.
Late last week, he told CNBC that he would do “something big” with cryptocurrency, because he didn’t want China to take the lead.
When asked if he planned to create a strategic reserve, he replied “yes, I think so.”
This is a measure that other countries have considered.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned whether state reserves should be held in foreign currencies and appeared to consider bitcoin as an option.
But there is no shortage of skeptics, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
According to him, bitcoin is volatile and is not used for payments or as a store of value, which does not make it a rival to the dollar.
Despite this, market optimism towards cryptocurrency knows few bounds at present.
Bitcoin has risen more than 50% since the election of Mr. Trump, who bet that his administration would be supportive of digital assets.
He landed key cryptocurrency advocate positions overseeing the industry and running the Securities and Exchange Commission.
One analyst told Reuters that markets were in “dream territory” and all eyes were now on the $110,000 level.
