Bitcoin rallied on Friday to a four-week high and resumed the gains after a short hiatus yesterday, amid strong demand before US President-el
Bitcoin rallied on Friday to a four-week high and resumed the gains after a short hiatus yesterday, amid strong demand before US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
It comes after MicroStrategy increased its holdings of bitcoins recently, and also after a spate of weak US data, which bolstered the case for a March Fed interest rate cut.
The Price
Bitcoin rose 3.0% at Bitstamp today to $102961, the highest since December 18, with a session-low at $99,944.
On Thursday, bitcoin dipped 0.5%, the first loss in four days.
Crypto Market Value
The market value of cryptocurrencies rose by $90 billion on Friday to a total of $3.762 trillion, the highest in a month.
Trump
During his inauguration speech next Monday, Donald Trump is expected to outline his future vision for America with a focus on implementing his election pledges.
Trump promised to boost economic growth and infrastructure spending, and execute friendly policies to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
MicroStrategy
Through the X platform, MicroStrategy CEO Micheal Saylor announced the purchase of 2530 new bitcoins, bringing the company’s total bitcoin holdings to a new record.
The purchase was done between January 8 and 13, spending $243 million in total, meaning the company paid on average $95972 per bitcoin, with MicroStrategy now owning 450,000 bitcoins overall, averaging $62,700 per bitcoin.
US Rates
Earlier US data showed core inflation slowed down in December, while retail sales also slowed down more than expected in December, as unemployment claims rose last week.
Some Fed officials stated that recent Wednesday data showed US inflation continues to taper off, even with increasing uncertainty in upcoming months.
Fed member Christopher Waller said three three or four interest rate cuts this year are still possible if US data continued to weaken.
According to the Fedwatch tool, the odds of a 0.25% Fed rate cut in January stood at just 3%.
The odds of a similar cut in March rose from 23% to 31%.
www.economies.com