Bitcoin rallied on Thursday for the fourth straight session and hit another record high at $97,000, approaching the barrier of $100,000 for the first time on optimism about US President-elect Donald Trump crypto plans. 

Bitcoin rose over 40% since Trump’s US election victory, with momentum rising further after reports that the social media company owned by Donald Trump is in talks to acquire the crypto trading company “Bakkt”, which would reinforce Trump’s alliance with the crypto system.

Otherwise, the MicroStrategy firm announced a new round of bitcoin purchases valued at nearly $5 billion, with the company’s total holdings of the cryptocurrency amounting to $29 billion.

Prices

Bitcoin rose 3.65% at Bitstamp today to $97,820, a fresh record high, with a session-low at $94,106.

On Wednesday, bitcoin rose 2.1%, the third profit in a row on strong investment demand on the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency.

Crypto Market Value 

The market value of cryptocurrencies rose by nearly $90 billion today to a total of $3.340 trillion, a record high amid a surge in all major cryptocurrencies.

Trump 

The Financial Times reported that Trump’s media and technology company, which manages the Truth Social platform, is about to acquire Bakkt through a share swapping deal. 

Trump has vowed to found a supportive organizational framework for crypto assets, and a US bitcoin strategic reserve. 

MicroStrategy’s Purchases 

The MicroStrategy firm announced another purchase of 51,780 bitcoins valued at about $5 billion, making it the biggest crypto purchase by the company so far.

Microstrategy focuses on institutional programming, and has adopted a strategy of acquiring crypto assets, with their total bitcoin holdings reaching $29 billion so far.

The company announced plans to collect nearly $42 billion worth of bitcoin through the next three years as a method to diversify holdings and protect against inflation.

Bitcoin’s Outlook 

Citibank’s analysts expected in a memo last week that bitcoin will hit $100,000 following Trump’s election victory. 

They noted that cryptocurrencies are one of the few Trump deals that maintained their stellar momentum so far, due to Trump’s expected friendly attitude towards the crypto industry and its regulations. 

The Japanese yen rose in Asian trade on Thursday against a basket of main rivals, about to mark its first profit in four days against the US dollar ahead of the Bank of Japan Kazuo Ueda’s speech in Tokyo later today, which could provide clues on the odds of another interest rate hike in December. 

Yen is also boosted by a drop in US treasury yields as markets await evidence on the likelihood of another Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December.

The Price 

The USD/JPY pair fell by over 0.3% to 154.86 yen per dollar, with a session-high at 155.39.

The yen lost 0.5% yesterday against the dollar, the third loss in a row following strong Japanese data as export-oriented corporations benefit from a weaker yen.

Japanese Rates

The odds of a 0.25% interest rate cut by the Bank of Japan in December is currently standing at 54%.

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda recently said the central bank will continue to hike interest rates if prices and economic developments move as expected.

US Yields 

US 10-year treasury yields fell by 0.3% on Thursday and are about to hit a week low, in turn pressuring the greenback.

The odds of a 0.25% Federal Reserve rate cut at the December meeting stood at 52% according to the Fedwatch tool.

Now investors await US unemployment claims later today in addition to remarks by several Fed officials to gather more clues. 

The Energy Information Administration reported a buildup of 0.5 million barrels in US crude stocks last week to a total of 430.3 million barrels, while analysts expected a drop of 0.2 million barrels. 

Gasoline stocks rose 2.1 million barrels to 208.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks fell by 0.1 million barrels to 114.3 million barrels. 

US stock indices lost ground on Wednesday ahead of new remarks by several Fed officials this week.

Later today, Nvidia’s earning results will be announced, with investors focusing on AI chips demand in particular. 

Last week’s remarks by several Fed officials hinted at a potential slowdown in the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, with investors now waiting for further speeches and clues.

On trading, Dow Jones fell 0.1% as of 15:04 GMT, or 43 points to 43225 points, while S&P 500 fell 0.5%, or 28 points to 5888 points, as NASDAQ slid 0.8%, or 146 points to 18,838 points.