Bitcoin retreated after a rally toward US$100,000 ($134.25) sputtered just shy of the historic level amid warnings that investor optimism stemming from President-elect Donald Trump’s support for crypto was getting overdone.
The digital asset fell as low as US$95,776 on Sunday after coming within US$300 of the six-figure milestone on Friday. It struggled for traction near US$97,000 early in Asia on Monday, setting a downbeat tone for the wider crypto market.
“Investors are worried it will have to take a breather now that it has basically tested the US$100,000 level,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. “I’d note that bullishness surrounding Bitcoin is getting extreme.”
Trump’s incoming US administration is viewed as a crypto tailwind across Wall Street and beyond. The overall value of the digital-asset market has surged about US$1 trillion since the Republican’s victory on Nov 5.
Trump’s agenda
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Trump has promised friendlier regulations and pledged to set up a national Bitcoin stockpile, though the timeline for implementation and the feasibility of the Bitcoin reserve remain open questions.
“I’m seeing an increasing skew to the sell side as we near the US$100,000 mark,” said David Lawant, head of research at crypto prime broker FalconX. “This suggests we may experience consolidation around this level in the near term before a sustained breakthrough above it.”
Traders had seized on the US crypto outlook to push Bitcoin to the verge of US$100,000, a symbolic level that for crypto supporters repudiates sceptics who see little intrinsic value in digital assets.
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Cantor talks
The latest developments included a Bloomberg News report that Cantor Fitzgerald is in talks with Tether Holdings about receiving support from the stablecoin issuer for Cantor’s planned multi-billion-dollar program to lend dollars to clients who put up Bitcoin as collateral.
Cantor’s CEO Howard Lutnick is co-chair of Trump’s transition team and the president-elect’s pick to run the Commerce Department.
The president-elect’s transition team has also held discussions over whether to create the first-ever White House post dedicated to digital-asset policy.
Cash has poured into US exchange-traded funds investing directly in Bitcoin since Trump’s win, and the products have now amassed US$107 billion in assets since launching in January. The group of 12 Bitcoin ETFs, from issuers including BlackRock and Fidelity Investments, is among the most successful fund category launches in history.
“Bitcoin was extremely overbought since the election, it was bound to stall out,” said Stephane Ouellette, CEO at crypto investment firm FRNT Financial. “That said, this is barely a pullback, we’re just back at levels from mid-last week.”
Chart: Bloomberg
