Bitcoin reaches the 100,000 US dollar mark for the first time

On Thursday night, the Bitcoin price on relevant crypto exchanges, such as Bitget* or Crypto.com*, exceeded the symbolic USD 100,000 mark for the first time, marking a new historic high. This was preceded by a number of important events that brought Bitcoin, which was only launched 16 years ago with the publication of the Bitcoin white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, to life.

Main drivers: US spot ETFs and institutional inflows)

The value of Bitcoin has increased considerably since the beginning of the year. It started the year at just over 42,000 US dollars and reached a low of around 38,500 US dollars. This means that the price has more than doubled within a year. The approved Bitcoin spot ETFs in the USA made a decisive contribution to this rapid rise. After years of waiting and numerous regulatory hurdles, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light for the first spot ETFs in October 2024. These funds, which invest directly in physical Bitcoin, make it easier for institutional investors such as pension funds, hedge funds and insurance companies to participate in Bitcoin trading without the challenges of custody and direct market interaction.

Spot ETFs have recently seen a significant inflow of capital. At times, more than 1.3 billion US dollars flowed into these products on individual days, with several hundred million dollars flowing in every day, which increased the buying pressure on Bitcoin and further tightened the supply on the exchanges. In total, more than 100 billion US dollars have flowed into these products since approval, making the Bitcoin ETFs the most successful to date. The first gold ETF from the USA took just over two years to raise its first 10 billion US dollars.

Institutional players are increasingly viewing Bitcoin as digital gold and as a hedge against economic uncertainty. But more and more companies are also discovering electronic money for themselves. For example, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom recently announced its intention to use surplus solar power for Bitcoin mining. The company plans to set up its own containers with specialized ASIC hardware in Backnang, Baden-Württemberg. This will make it possible to monetize the surplus electricity that remains unused due to a lack of grid feed-in or storage options. MicroStrategy is planning further Bitcoin purchases amounting to 42 billion US dollars and Microsoft shareholders are also to vote on a possible Bitcoin investment by the Group.

BitcoinDas Bild zeigt zwei goldene Bitcoin-Münzen.

Possible FED reserve: a surprising twist

Another important development that has fueled the recent Bitcoin rally is the announcement by incoming US President Donald Trump. He had recently spoken positively about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. At the Bitcoin conference in Nashville at the end of July, he held out the prospect of setting up a state Bitcoin reserve and promised to buy around 200,000 BTC, or just under 5% of all Bitcoin. Under his leadership, the USA is to become the leading country for cryptocurrencies and their service providers and developments. Whether Trump will actually implement these promises remains to be seen, especially as he does not have the sole authority to do so anyway.

The prospect of such an inclusion in the reserves was a confidence boost for Bitcoin and underlined its role as a store of value. Analysts compare this development with the transition from gold as a currency anchor to a reserve asset in the 1970s.

16 years of Bitcoin: from niche project to global force

The historic rise to over 100,000 US dollars coincidentally took place just a few days after the 16th birthday of the Bitcoin white paper. On October 31, 2008, the anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto published the white paper entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. Since then, Bitcoin has evolved from a niche project for technology enthusiasts to a global asset that influences financial markets, technology worlds and geopolitical discussions alike.

In recent years, Bitcoin has gained importance not only as an object of speculation, but also as a hedge against inflation, an international means of payment and a safe haven in times of crisis. Crossing the 100,000 dollar mark underlines this success and points to a future in which Bitcoin could play an even greater role in the global economy. What began 16 years ago as a vision of a decentralized financial system has now developed into an economic and technological force to be reckoned with. Bitcoin ranks seventh among the world’s most valuable assets – behind gold, but also NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon* and Microsoft – and recently overtook silver.