BTC sets record high above $109,000 ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration

Bitcoin (BTC) zoomed to a record high above $109,000 in Asian trading on Monday ahead of Republican Donald Trump’s scheduled inauguration later in the day. The largest cryptocurrency touched $109,333 on Binance.

Trump cited the asset’s record performance in a Sunday speech alongside gains in the broader US stock market.

“Since the election, the stock market has rallied and small business optimism has risen a record 41 points to a 39-year high. Bitcoin has broken one record after another,” Trump said.

BTC reversed losses from earlier in the day, falling to nearly $100,000 from a high of over $102,000 on Sunday as First Lady Melania Trump issued a memecoin that drew liquidity away from major assets.

Trump has been vocal about his support for cryptocurrencies during his campaign. Promises such as making the US the “crypto capital of the planet” and creating a “strategic national bitcoin reserve” have fueled investor optimism.

“Bitcoin hit $108,000 as other cryptocurrencies pumped up quickly on the eve of the US presidential inauguration, with hopes that new policies and regulators will send the price of BTC much higher this year as the US economy continues to show long-term strength ,” Ben El-Baz, CEO of HashKey Global, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

“The forward momentum has been further accelerated by the launch of TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins, which have attracted more retail users, and hope that Trump will prioritize and reaffirm his commitment to the crypto industry.”

“Designating crypto as a national priority and launching TRUMP coin over the past few days have been strong, positive signals. As the key bellwether for the industry, Bitcoin’s rise was expected and is likely to continue through the week,” Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, said in a Telegram message.

Year-end Bitcoin targets range from $185,000 to as high as $250,000, as CoinDesk previously reported.

Meanwhile, bitcoin dominance has started to trend higher and is now approaching 60%, the highest level since December 20th. The spread between the two largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether (ETH), continues to widen with a market capitalization gap of $1.75 trillion — the largest gap ever recorded.