BofA warns Fed risks policy mistake with early rate cuts
Investing.com-- Bitcoin advanced on to a new record high above $116,000 in afternoon trading New York time on Thursday.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency last traded up 4.6% to $115,935 as of 5:27 PM ET.
It briefly jumped to an all-time high of $116,601.40 before pulling back modestly.
Bitcoin hits record high on institutional demand
The milestone comes amid growing allocations from institutional investors, including entities moving bitcoin into treasury portfolios and ETFs overseen by major asset managers.
Corporate treasuries continue to accumulate Bitcoin aggressively. Strategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR) remains the most visible, but newer entrants, such as GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME), have joined the ranks, announcing board‑approved Bitcoin purchases.
Earlier this week, Trump Media (NASDAQ:DJT) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking approval to launch a new "Crypto Blue Chip ETF" later this year. The company has already filed for two ETFs earlier this month.
These structural tailwinds, including ETF inflows, corporate treasury expansion, and supportive U.S. policy, have sharpened Bitcoin’s appeal as an institutional-grade asset.
Trump tariff threats limit breakout
Bitcoin has remained range-bound in recent sessions, but saw a breakout on Wednesday and Thursday. Still, trade concerns ahead of an August 1 tariff deadline threaten gains.
Looking ahead, investors are also focused on “Crypto Week” starting July 14, when U.S. lawmakers in Washington are expected to push forward at least three major bills aimed at regulating digital assets.
President Trump on Wednesday announced a 50% tariff on copper imports, effective Aug 1, and raised "reciprocal" tariffs on Brazil to 50% from 10%.
Meanwhile, uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s rate outlook further tempered crypto gains.
Just a few Fed officials at the June 17–18 meeting backed a rate cut this month, while most remained concerned about inflation risks from Trump’s tariff-driven trade policy, according to the minutes of the meeting released on Wednesday.
Alipay owner to integrate USDC - report
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group is reportedly planning to incorporate Circle’s USDC stablecoin into its blockchain ecosystem, according to Bloomberg. A specific timeline for the integration hasn’t been confirmed.
Ant Group runs Alipay, China’s dominant mobile payments service, which also has significant reach across other parts of Asia. With an estimated 1.6 billion user accounts, Alipay is believed to be the world’s largest mobile payments platform.
The company was originally spun out of Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), one of China’s biggest e-commerce and cloud computing firms.
Stablecoins have seen growing momentum since the U.S. Senate approved new regulations for dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies in June. Circle, which went public the same month, has emerged as a key beneficiary, as one of the few listed firms with its own stablecoin.
Crypto price today: altcoins jump, Ethereum leads gains
Most altcoins jumped on Thursday amid optimism over the biggest cryptocurrency hitting a record high.
World no.2 crypto Ethereum jumped 5.5% to $2,902.25.
World no. 3 crypto XRP climbed over 5% to $2.54.
Solana and Cardano each added nearly 4%, while Polygon advanced 5%.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin also traded 5.4% higher, while $TRUMP jumped 6.9%
(Ayushman Ojha and Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this report).