The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin has reclaimed the $90,000 mark for the first time in a month and a half. Although the US stock market is plummeting due to the US-China trade war, Bitcoin has drawn a similar upward curve to gold, a representative safe-haven asset.
According to the global cryptocurrency market tracking site CoinMarketCap on the 23rd, Bitcoin was traded at $93,168 per coin (approximately 133.2 million won) as of 8 am that day. This is about 7% higher compared to 24 hours ago and over 10% higher than a week ago. This is the first time Bitcoin has returned to the $90,000 level since 46 days ago on March 6th.
Bitcoin's price showed a contrasting trend compared to the sluggish US stock market due to Donald Trump's trade war. Although Bitcoin had plummeted to the $74,000 range on the 7th due to weakened investment sentiment from the trade war, it gradually drew an upward curve and jumped by more than 20%.
Gold prices have been setting new record highs daily. The June gold futures price rose to $3,504.2 per ounce during the previous day's trading session, crossing the $3,500 mark for the first time. The spot gold price also recorded an all-time high of $3,494 per ounce on the same day. Compared to the beginning of the year, it has soared by more than 30%, and has risen by over 10% since the beginning of this month.
The factor behind gold reaching an all-time high is the analysis that the 'Sell America' phenomenon occurred as President Trump continuously pressured Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower the base interest rate.
As the possibility of central bank independence being compromised accelerated the 'Sell USA' phenomenon of selling US stocks, bonds, and dollars, there is a diagnosis that money is moving to Bitcoin and gold. This is where Bitcoin is being re-evaluated as 'digital gold'. iM Securities researcher Sang-hyun Park assessed that "the concurrent strength of gold and Bitcoin reflects the movement of funds to alternative assets away from the dollar".
In particular, Bitcoin has surged by more than 6% in the past two days. Bitcoin, which typically followed a similar trend to the Nasdaq index centered on tech stocks, seems to be 'decoupling'. Bloomberg reported, "After President Trump announced plans for large-scale tariff impositions, most risk assets declined" and "However, Bitcoin has begun to show a flow similar to gold, a standout asset in uncertain markets".
The fact that Paul Atkins, who was newly appointed as the SEC Chairman, is considered crypto-friendly is also seen as a positive factor for Bitcoin prices. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins officially took office and began his term on the 22nd (local time). President Trump attended Atkins' SEC chairman inauguration and praised him as "the most suitable person to secure clarity in cryptocurrency regulation".
Due to the expanding preference for cryptocurrencies, a total of $381 million was injected into US-listed Bitcoin spot ETFs in just one day on the 21st. This is the largest scale since January 30th.
Augustine Pan, a partner at cryptocurrency trading platform Signal Plus, predicted that "if decoupling from US assets continues, the long-term bullish view of Bitcoin as a store of value could be re-emphasized".
