Market News

(Bloomberg) -- The total market value of cryptoassets surged past $4 trillion for the first time, driven by a rally in altcoins and momentum from a sweeping US legislative push to regulate the sector.

The options market shows traders are increasing bets for even higher prices in the weeks ahead.

“Bitcoin’s path to $150,000 looks increasingly inevitable,” said Fadi Aboualfa, head of research at Copper. The original cryptocurrency accounts for about 60% of the entire digital market’s value.

The milestone followed the passage of the first-ever federal legislation for stablecoins, a key accomplishment during what lawmakers have dubbed “Crypto Week.” The bill, backed by Republicans and championed by President Donald Trump, introduces federal or state oversight of dollar-linked stablecoin, aiming to legitimize a $265 billion market that Citigroup Inc. analysts project could grow to $3.7 trillion by 2030.

Altcoins — a catch-all term for tokens besides Bitcoin — led the latest leg of the rally, with Ether jumping 20% this week. Bitcoin hit a record $123,205 on Monday. Uniswap surged as much as 24% on Friday, while Solana gained 6.5% at one point.

The smaller and more volatile tokens had underperformed through most of Bitcoin’s record-breaking run.

The rise of of so-called crypto treasury companies have provided altcoins with a boost. This new wave of public companies, modeled on Michael Saylor’s Strategy have been issuing equity and debt to buy various tokens as investments.

MEI Pharma Inc. shares doubled at one point on Friday after the pharmaceutical company announced a $100 million private investment in public equity deal to fund a Litecoin treasury.

Thursday also saw the House pass a broader crypto market structure bill, which now awaits Senate consideration. The stablecoin bill is expected to be signed by Trump at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time in the White House.

Investors have continued to flood into US-listed crypto ETFs. Bitcoin funds have attracted $5.5 billion in inflows so far in July, while Ether ETFs brought in $2.9 billion.

“Since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs, we’ve seen a consistent pricing trend and the recent price surge is still in fact within the norms,” Aboualfa said. “If current inflows continue - even through the typically subdued summer period - we could see Bitcoin breach $140k by September, with a potential surge toward $150k in early October.”

Underlying demand for Bitcoin appears strong with elevated open interest in options at $130,000 for August 1 expiry, Deribit data shows. Bitcoin fell 1.5% to about $117,665 on Friday.

--With assistance from Emily Nicolle and Kirk Ogunrinde.