Bitcoin Breaks a New Record on Regulatory Hopes

April showers brought May flowers for Bitcoin: The No. 1 cryptocurrency surged past $109,500 yesterday, beating its previous record from January. Bitcoin has risen more than 40% from its April low, when fears around POTUS Trump’s tariffs saw traders pulling out of tech and crypto stocks.

Now, bullish signs abound: Traders are buying call options for when bitcoin hits $110,000, $120,000, and even $300,000 with expiration dates toward the end of June. Demand for short-term calls like these is surging, according to Amberdata.

Soft US inflation numbers released last week, paired with a de-escalation of global trade tensions, are likely contributing to bitcoin’s rebound. But what’s whipping hopes up to new highs is long-awaited progress on crypto regulation.

Under New Management

Crypto execs have long said they’d rather have formal rules to follow than fumble in the dark, especially after former SEC Chair Gary Gensler led a “regulation by enforcement” crackdown on the sector. Under Trump, new leaders with pro-crypto opinions (bye, Gensler) are pushing through regulatory frameworks.

Stablecoins are the first type of crypto getting fully fleshed-out bills, likely because their prices are pegged to assets like USD, making them less volatile than, say, memecoins such as bonk and dogwifhat. Boosting bitcoin this week, stablecoin legislation moved forward:

• The Senate voted to advance the first-ever US regulatory framework for stablecoins Monday night, ending a filibuster. That moves the bill to the Senate floor, where it could be passed as soon as this week. 
• A House committee approved a separate stablecoin bill last month. The Senate and House bills will need to be reconciled before heading to Trump’s desk. The president has said he wants to sign crypto regulation before Congress’s August recess. 

* Legislation’s Legitimizing. Bitcoin has already been getting a boost from traditional financial institutions buying it, and regulatory frameworks will likely encourage more to pile in. Morgan Stanley started letting its financial advisers pitch spot bitcoin ETFs to clients last year, while JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (a known crypto skeptic) said Monday that his bank plans to let clients buy bitcoin. Another sign of bitcoin’s rising cred: The amount held by public companies jumped 31% this year to $349 billion, or 15% of all bitcoin, according to Bitcoin Treasuries. Bitcoin’s mainstreaming raises a red flag for some die-hards: the risk of centralization.