Bitcoin soared to a fresh all-time high on July 9, brushing past the $112,000-mark for the first time ever. The world's largest cryptocurrency has now advanced more than 18% since the beginning of the year, buoyed by growing institutional participation and broader investor appetite for risk assets.
Fuelled by a broader rally in tech stocks and growing appetite for risk assets, bitcoin’s rise mirrored a record-setting session on Wall Street. Nvidia’s historic surge as it briefly pushed its market capitalisation above $4 trillion, helped set the tone, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closing at a fresh peak.
Crypto-specific developments have also helped. The Trump administration’s relatively friendly stance on digital assets has opened new avenues of capital for the sector. This week, Trump Media & Technology Group, a company run by the president’s family filed with the US markets regulator to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would invest in multiple cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, solana, and ripple.
Bitcoin's rally also had a spillover effect on the wider crypto market. Ether, the second-largest digital currency by market value, climbed to a one-month high of $2,794.95 before settling at $2,740.99, up over 5% on the day. Shares of crypto-linked firms also responded positively. Strategy, co-founded by prominent bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor, gained 4.7% to close at $415.41, while Coinbase Global advanced 5.4% to $373.85.
While bitcoin has traded in a rather tight range over recent weeks, investor interest has remained steady. Billions of dollars have continued flowing into spot bitcoin ETFs, but more importantly, it was corporate purchases of bitcoin in the second quarter that has outpaced ETF inflows, suggesting growing conviction among businesses in the long-term value of digital assets.
Looking ahead, market participants expect bitcoin to scale new records in the latter half of the year. With companies ramping up treasury allocations to bitcoin and legislative clarity on the horizon in Washington, optimism appears to be gaining ground. However, as always, bitcoin’s path is likely to be shaped by the broader mood in global markets.
