5 min readBitcoin has risen to a fresh all-time high of 97.8k amid ongoing optimism surrounding the incoming Trump administration and following the launch of options on a spot Bitcoin ETF. Ether underperforms.
Bitcoin has risen over 4% to a fresh all-time high and is within spitting distance of the key 100,000 level. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is outperforming its crypto peers, with the likes of ETH and SOL rising just 2% after losses yesterday.
Trump’s crypto czar
The latest leg higher for Bitcoin comes amid reports that President-elect Donald Trump is holding discussions with the crypto industry over whether to create a new White House post dedicated to cryptocurrency policy. If created, it would be the first crypto-specific White House job, boosting legitimacy and underscoring the sector’s influence.
Trump embraced the crypto sector throughout his campaign and has vowed to fire SEC chair, Gary Gensler, scale back regulation, and create a crypto Presidential Advisory Council.
BTC options ETFs launch
In addition to expectations of a crypto environment under Trump, news of options trading for Blackrock’s shares Bitcoin trust is also lifting BTC’s price. The new product is drawing more capital into crypto markets. The strong debut on options Blackrock ETF saw call options—bets on the BTC price going up—become more popular than puts.
On Wednesday, US spot BTC exchange-traded funds’ total net value exceeded $100 billion, representing 5.4% of the Bitcoin market capitalization. Since the election, more than $4 billion has streamed into the listed Bitcoin ETFs, pointing to strong demand.
ETH-BTC ratio drops
While Bitcoin’s price is flying towards a key psychological milestone, Ether has been rising much more slowly. And is still some 36% from its ATH. As a result, the Ether to Bitcoin price ratio on major centralized exchanges has fallen to its lowest level in 3 1/2 years.
The ETH to BTC ratio on Binance fell 1.5% in the past 24 hours to 0.032. Since the start of 2024, the metric has fallen by over 40%, with the decline accelerating since July. The acceleration of the decline could be attributed to Bitcoin’s impressive rise leading up to and following Trump’s election.
ETH outlook
Some consider ETH a difficult asset because it competes on two fronts: first, as a store of value against Bitcoin, and second, as a smart contract platform for developers – against Solana. As a result, investors could question its value proposition.
That said, the Ethereum blockchain remains one of the most economically active smart contract platforms, which will continue attracting developers who want to build new apps to help the network gain momentum.
It’s also worth pointing out that a more crypto-friendly environment under a Trump administration could mean more Web 3 projects on various chains and could also help ETH recover.
Meanwhile, data suggests ETH may be heading for a significant increase in momentum as the derivatives market shows unprecedented growth. Ether derivative activity points to a potential upward shift. According to CrptoQuant, open interest in Ethereum has risen above its previous all-time high, marking a 40% increase in just four months. The surge in open interest represents the total number of outstanding derivatives contracts and points to growing engagement among traders and institutions.
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