• Bitcoin hits record high amid Trump’s pro-crypto stance
• worth up over 50% since November election
• Bitcoin buyer MicroStrategy joins Nasdaq 100

Bitcoin’s record rally topped $107,000 on Monday after President-elect Donald Trump reiterated that he plans to make a U.S. bitcoin strategic safety net similar to its strategic oil safety net, stoking the thrill of crypto bulls.

Investor sentiment also got a lift from the inclusion of MicroStrategy MSTR.O into the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index that will likely navigator to more inflows for the software firm turned bitcoin buyer.

Bitcoin BTC=, the globe’s biggest and best known cryptocurrency, extended gains to a session high of $107,148 and was most recently at $106,877, up 5.43% from late Friday.The No. 2 digital money ether ETH= was up 1.85% at $3,975.70.

“We’re in blue sky territory here,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG. “The next figure the trade will be looking for is $110,000. The pullback that a lot of people were waiting for just didn’t happen, because now we’ve got this information.”

Bitcoin and crypto have been catapulted into the spotlight as investors wager the incoming Trump administration will usher in a friendlier regulatory surroundings, boosting sentiment around the alternative money. Bitcoin is up about 150% in 2024.

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“We’re gonna do something great with crypto because we don’t desire China or anybody else − not just China but others are embracing it − and we desire to be the head,” Trump told CNBC late last week.

When asked if he plans to construct a crypto safety net similar to oil reserves, Trump said: “Yeah, I ponder so.” He advocated the same thing earlier this year.

Governments around the globe held 2.2% of bitcoin’s total supply as of July, according to data provider CoinGecko, with the United States possessing nearly 200,000 bitcoins valued at more than $20 billion at current levels.

China, UK, Bhutan and El Salvador are the other countries with a significant amount of bitcoins, data site BitcoinTreasuries showed.

Other countries have also been considering cryptocurrency strategic reserves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month said the current U.S. administration was undermining the role of the U.S. dollar as the safety net money in the global economy by using it for political purposes, forcing many countries to turn to alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies.

“For example, bitcoin, who can prohibit it? No one,” Putin said.

There are skeptics though, with Federal safety net Chair Jerome Powell likening bitcoin to gold earlier this month. Analysts also point out that any such shift will receive period to implement.

“I ponder we still require to be cautious on a BTC strategic safety net, and at least consider that this is not likely to happen anytime soon,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

“Of course, any comment from Trump that offers an increased degree of aspiration that plans for a strategic safety net are evolving are an obvious tailwind, but this would arrive with consequences which would require to be carefully considered and well telegraphed to trade players.”

Crypto boost

Bitcoin has surged more than 50% since the Nov. 5 election that saw Trump elected along with many other pro-crypto candidates. The total worth of the cryptocurrency trade has almost doubled over the year so far to hit a record over $3.8 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

Trump – who once labeled crypto a scam – embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the “crypto pool of the earth.”

Trump this month named a White House czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, former PayPal executive David Sacks, a close partner of Trump adviser and megadonor Elon Musk.

Trump also said he would nominate pro-crypto Washington attorney Paul Atkins to head the financial instruments and swap percentage.

On Friday, swap operator Nasdaq said MicroStrategy, led by chief executive Michael Saylor, will be added to the Nasdaq-100 Index, with the transformation coming into result before the trade opens on Dec. 23.

MicroStrategy, an aggressive investor in the globe’s largest crypto resource, has seen its shares soar more than six-fold this year, taking its trade worth to almost $94 billion. It is now the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.

As part of the Nasdaq 100, investors would buy MicroStrategy shares to mirror the holdings of the broader index, thereby driving up the worth of the ownership and allowing the business to buy more crypto, through obligation and stake offerings, Matthew Dibb, chief pool officer at crypto resource manager Astronaut pool, said.

“The inclusion seems a bit unexpected, but that hasn’t stopped the thrill of what many depend to be the commence of a looping pattern of pool that could potentially drive up the spot bitcoin worth,” he said.

Additional reporting by Kevin Buckland in Tokyo, Ankur Banerjee in Singapore, Amanda Cooper in London, Medha Singh in Bangalore and Alden Bentley in recent York; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Louise Heavens, Ros Russell and David Gregorio