Bitcoin recently established a new all time high of US$99,600 before retreating to below US$93,000 as traders took profit. It has since rebounded and stabilised around US$95,500. This positive price movement coincides with President-elect Trump’s nomination of crypto-friendly candidates for key U.S. Federal Government positions, including Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary and Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary. Notably, Lutnick’s firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, reportedly acquired 5% in Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, in a deal valued at approximately $600 million last year. Meanwhile, options trading for US’s spot Bitcoin ETFs had an impressive debut. Nearly $1.9 billion in notional exposure was traded on the first day through 354,000 contracts, comprising 289,000 calls and 65,000 puts for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT. Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted that such a significant volume on day one is unprecedented.
