Bitcoin (BTC) just made a new all-time high, continuing its powerful advance following Donald Trump's election victory.
The top cryptocurrency is currently up 2.3% in the last 24 hours and trading for $76,600, buoyed by former President Trump's win, as well as market expectations that the Federal Reserve will announce a 0.25% federal interest rate cut after Thursday's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
It's been less than a day since bitcoin notched its last all-time high of $76,480 — a price that broke a seven-month-old record.
It's not the only coin doing well. The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, exchange tokens and memecoins — is up 4.3% in the last 24 hours. Surprisingly, Ethereum's ether (ETH) has proved to be one of the index's best performers. The largest smart contract platform has surged 8% and is now priced at almost $2,870 — showing signs of breaking away from the $2,800 to $2,300 range where it's been stuck.
"Beyond ... bitcoin pushing to a fresh record high, the market should perhaps be paying attention to what could be a more bullish development," Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said in a Thursday market update. "The crypto market is looking for a resurgence in the decentralized finance space, with Ethereum playing an important part in this initiative."
"Now that BTC has finally pushed through $75,000 and ETH has broken back above $2,800 the stage is set for what could be a strong close to 2024 and bright outlook in 2025," he added.
Other winners: Cardano's ADA is up 10.4%, while Polygon's POL has risen 6.6% so far. Solana (SOL) also keeps inching toward new highs. Now up 5%, the coin is trading for $195 and is only 33% away from its 2021 all-time high.
On the equities side, bitcoin mining firm Core Scientific (CORZ) has surged more than 11% on the day after a Wednesday earnings call revealed the company was executing on its artificial intelligence ambitions. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy's (MSTR) 5.8% gain has taken it to a new 20-year high. Coinbase (COIN) is taking a breather after blasting upwards 31% Wednesday, and is only up 1.1%.
The price action happened before an FOMC decision that could shake up digital asset markets. The Fed is widely anticipated to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference on policy and inflation for the first time since Trump won the election could induce volatility.
