Bitcoin tops US$80,000 for three-month high as Asian stocks rise

[SINGAPORE] Bitcoin rose above US$80,000 for the first time in more than three months as Asian stocks approached record highs.

The original cryptocurrency climbed as much as 1.9 per cent on Monday (May 4) morning in Singapore to US$80,393, its highest level since Jan 31. Other tokens including Ether also rose.

The rally came as MSCI’s Asian equities gauge neared an all-time high set in February, just before the US-Israel war on Iran began, after stronger-than-expected corporate earnings from technology companies last week kept the sector buoyant.

Markets are digesting mixed messages over Iran. US President Donald Trump said the US would begin guiding ships not involved in the conflict through the Strait of Hormuz, but a senior Iranian official warned that Teheran would consider any US interference in the Strait a ceasefire breach, according to an AFP report.

Bitcoin reached a record of over US$126,000 in October last year, before a months-long swoon that dragged it down to about US$60,000 in February. The token has gradually regained some ground from there, driven in part by improved institutional demand. US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw US$630 million of net inflows on Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Optimism that a US deal may be reached on a key stablecoin yield provision, potentially clearing a path for sweeping crypto legislation to move forward in the Senate, has also lifted traders’ spirits, according to Richard Galvin, executive chairman at DACM, a crypto investment firm. It’s “early days,” he added, but US$80,000 “has been a big psychological barrier.”

Caroline Mauron, co-founder at Orbit Markets, said a decisive break above US$80,000 for Bitcoin would provide “further positive momentum to the asset class.” BLOOMBERG