NEW YORK: Bitcoin rose to a fresh record high above $94,000 as a report that Donald Trump’s social media company was in talks to buy crypto trading firm Bakkt boosted expectations of a crypto-friendly regime under his incoming administration.

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has more than doubled this year. It was last at $94,291 just under a record high of $94,378. The Financial Times said Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, is close to an all-stock acquisition of Bakkt, which is backed by NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange.

“Trump’s seeming interest to push further into crypto on a personal level has contributed to optimism that crypto will be a top priority when Trump takes office,” said Stéphane Ouellette, chief executive officer of crypto trading firm FRNT Financial. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Trump was meeting privately with the crypto exchange CEO Brian Armstrong, further aiding sentiment.

Cryptocurrencies have soared since the Nov 5 US election as traders bet President-elect Trump’s promised support for digital assets would lead to a less restrictive regulatory regime. Options trading over BlackRock’s spot bitcoin on the Nasdaq made a strong debut on Tuesday with a bullish call-to-put ratio of 4.4:1, according to QCP Capital. “We expect these options to be popular and, in turn, may positively influence trading volumes of these ETPs (exchange traded products) as the underlying,” said Kenneth Worthington, analyst at JP Morgan.

The growing excitement has taken the global cryptocurrency market’s value above $3 trillion to a record high, based on analytics and data aggregator CoinGecko. US spot bitcoin exchange-traded products have attracted about $4.2 billion in inflows since Trump’s election victory, about 15 percent of the total inflows since the products were launched on US stock exchanges in January. Chris Weston, head of research at Australian online broker Pepperstone, said there is real underlying buying pressure for bitcoin, and “another kick higher should bring in a fresh chase from those who like to buy what’s strong”. — Reuters