In brief
- Bitcoin’s reached a previous high of $108,786 in late January, per CoinGecko.
- BTC’s price dipped below $75,000 in early April as U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up his global trade war.
- The largest crypto by market value has benefited from more favorable macroeconomic conditions of late.
Bitcoin soared to a new record price above $109,000 on Wednesday morning, pushed by tailwinds that have sent cryptocurrencies and other risk-on assets higher over the past two months.
The largest crypto by market capitalization was recently trading at $109,378 at crypto exchange Coinbase, up 4.5% over the past 24 hours. According to Coinbase, BTC topped out at $109,500 before cooling. Bitcoin is now up nearly 25% over the last month.
“Bitcoin is pushing toward new highs with strong tailwinds behind it—from steady ETF inflows to a broader shift in political tone,” Joe DiPasquale, CEO of crypto asset manager BitBull Capital, wrote to Decrypt ahead of the milestone. “We’re seeing growing institutional interest and renewed risk appetite across the board.”
He added optimistically: “This doesn’t feel like a short-term squeeze—it’s a more sustained bid that reflects a structural shift in how investors are viewing Bitcoin. It’s moving from a speculative trade to a strategic allocation, increasingly seen as a macro asset with long-term relevance, not just a bet on tech or hype cycles.”
The latest gains come as investors buoyed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent retreat from his global trade war and encouraging inflation reports earlier this month have plowed back into risk-on assets. Bitcoin has also benefited as investors have viewed it more as a hedge against macroeconomic uncertainties that have threatened to undermine the value of the U.S. dollar.
Bitcoin roared to its previous record of $108,786 (according to CoinGecko) in early April amid market optimism that newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump’s would fulfill his promises to support the industry. But it plunged below $75,000 as investors grew skittish about his global trade war and other economic policies that many analysts believed would raise prices and slow the global economy.
The trend began to reverse shortly after encouraging readings on inflation and Trump’s partial retreats from tariffs on its most important trading partners. Bitcoin and other coins’ gains have accelerated over the past month, along with major equity indexes.
Ethereum and Solana are showing similar gains to Bitcoin on the day, both up around 4%, while Dogecoin is outpacing Bitcoin with a 6% bump and Cardano is up 5% as well.
Bitcoin’s record-breaking surge this week comes amid rising demand for Bitcoin ETFs, with nearly $1 billion worth of inflows into such funds already this week after two trading days, per data from Farside Investors, while publicly traded firms like Strategy and Metaplanet continue to acquire the leading cryptocurrency for their corporate treasuries.
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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