Bitcoin tops $100K as markets await Trump

Bitcoin broke $1,00,000 on Thursday as investors bet on a friendly US regulatory shift, while world stocks touched fresh record highs with sentiment bolstered by upbeat comments on the economy from Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.

Its latest surge followed Trump saying he would nominate Paul Atkins, who is pro-crypto and pro-deregulation, to run the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“At the end of the day, it’s just a number,” said Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.

“But the reality is we’ve been able to get to this level because the industry has become institutionalised this year particularly - and that’s mostly the ETF inflows,” he said, referring to exchange traded funds approved earlier this year.

US rate cut optimism supported sentiment across broader markets.

Over the past week and a half, markets have all but priced in an extra US rate cut for 2025 and the implied chance of a cut in December has lifted from even to around 75%.

Earlier this week, Fed Governor Christopher Waller had said he was leaning towards a cut later in December.

The closely-watched US ISM survey showed services sector activity slowed in November after posting big gains in recent months.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields edged up after falling the previous day.

With eyes on monthly US employment data on Friday, new data on Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, suggesting that the labour market continued to steadily cool.

The dollar weakened against major currencies, down about 0.5%, leaving the euro up 0.65% at $1.0578. The yen was little changed versus the dollar. The risk premium investors demand to hold French debt over German Bunds dropped further away from its highest levels in over 12 years on Thursday.