The price of bitcoin surpassed the $110,000 threshold for the first time in history on Thursday, driven by a fresh wave of optimism over the recent advancement of a key stablecoin bill in the U.S.
The value of the global cryptocurrency market, including bitcoin, reached $2.2 trillion on Thursday, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin had already hit a record high a day earlier as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency surged to an all-time peak of $109,499.76, surpassing its previous high set on Jan. 20 when Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president.
Bitcoin gained after U.S. policymakers showed greater bipartisan support for a cryptocurrency bill on the regulation of so-called stablecoins, digital coins whose value is tied to the dollar, according to analysts.
This has sparked fresh hopes for regulatory clarity in the sector, including for bitcoin, which is not directly linked to the dollar.
The digital currency has also been buoyed by a more favorable macroeconomic environment, as investors’ appetite for riskier assets has returned following an easing of tensions between the U.S. and its key trading partners.
Trump vowed to support cryptocurrencies during his campaign for a second White House term.
But a wave of U.S. tariffs unleashed on countries around the world dampened financial markets, causing a wave of uncertainty.
Bitcoin broke back through the symbolic $100,000 threshold on May 8 for the first time since February, as Britain and the United States unveiled a trade deal.
Cryptocurrencies have made headlines since their creation, gaining attention for their extreme volatility and the collapse of several industry giants, foremost among them the FTX exchange platform.
The digital currency is created or “mined” as a reward when powerful computers solve complex problems to validate transactions made on a tamper-proof register known as the blockchain.
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