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Data from CoinMarketCap showed bitcoin climbed above $123,000
early Monday, up from about $108,000 only a week ago. The
world’s oldest and most popular cryptocurrency is currently the
fifth most valuable asset class in the world at $2.4 trillion,
giving it a higher market cap than Amazon.
The enthusiasm for bitcoin comes as the U.S. House is set to
take up several pieces of cryptocurrency-related legislation in
what’s been dubbed “crypto week” in Congress. Lawmakers have
been under pressure from President Donald Trump and the
big-spending crypto lobby to pass legislation quickly.
That includes a bill passed last month by the Senate that would
regulate a type of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins. The
House is also set to take up a cryptocurrency market structure
legislation that is far more sweeping.
Trump, once a skeptic of the industry, has vowed in his second
term to make the U.S. the global capital of crypto. Meanwhile,
he and his family have moved aggressively into nearly every
corner of the industry: mining operations, billion-dollar
bitcoin purchases, a newly minted stablecoin and a Trump-branded
meme coin.
The crypto industry has rapidly become a major player in
Washington after feeling unfairly targeted by the Biden
administration. The industry spent huge amounts on last year’s
elections and has been spending heavily on lobbying and other
influence efforts this year.
Bitcoin has seen a significant rebound since April, when it
briefly dipped below $75,000.
Spot bitcoin ETFs are becoming increasingly popular since
launching last year and several publicly traded companies have
made using debt and stock sales to buy bitcoin their primary
business strategy.
Created in response to the 2008 financial crisis, bitcoin has
taken a highly volatile path to mainstream acceptance. Its
backers say the asset is like a “digital gold” that can act as a
hedge against central bank and government malfeasance. Only 21
million bitcoins will ever be created.
“Bitcoin’s price is finally catching up to what’s been building
under the surface,” said Adam Back, CEO of the crypto company
Blockstream. “This is institutional demand aligning with
bitcoin’s fundamentals, and a fixed supply doing what it was
designed to do.”
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