Bitcoin rises to fresh record above $94,000 as investors watch Trump transition, ETF options

Bitcoin advanced past $94,000 on Wednesday for the first time as traders continued to monitor President-elect Donald Trump’s transition back to the White House and weighed early options trading on bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

The price of the cryptocurrency was last higher by 1.5% at $94,375.79, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it traded as high as $94,989.99.

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy jumped 10%, bringing its week-to-date gains to 39%.

Bitcoin has been regularly hitting fresh records since the election, though in smaller increments since the postelection rally faded last week, on hopes that Trump will usher in a crypto-friendly era for the industry that includes more supportive regulation and a potential national strategic bitcoin reserve or stockpile.

Traders this week are keeping a close eye on Trump’s appointments for Treasury Secretary and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair.

“We’re still very much in a phase of kind of pricing in the Trump trade,” said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.

He also pointed to the “mainstream, institutional adoption that we’re getting by way of the approval of the bitcoin and ETH spot ETFs this year” and options trading on those ETFs going live beginning Tuesday, which he called “another reflection of the maturation of the crypto market.”

Options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) began trading on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) are expected to have options available Wednesday.

Elsewhere, traders are looking forward to Nvidia earnings after the bell, which could affect bitcoin’s price. The cryptocurrency often benefits from moves in risk assets broadly, more so this year as institutional investors have become more comfortable with it thanks to bitcoin ETFs.

Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro: Beware of a ‘self-fulfilling’ sell-off if bitcoin returns to $90,000, says Standard Chartered Regulatory clarity could drive bitcoin to $225,000 this year, says H.C. Wainwright Pro Talks: Grayscale’s Zach Pandl on bitcoin’s rally and the crypto market’s setup for 2025