Bitcoin Poised to Challenge All-Time High on Surging Corporate Demand

Positive Indicators: Increased Corporate Holdings, US 401k Investments, Harvard University Holdings

"Gaining Attention as a Store of Value Without Tariffs"

Driven by a growing number of companies adopting financial investment strategies similar to Michael Saylor's at MicroStrategy, as well as increased institutional investor activity, Bitcoin in the US market is approaching its all-time high.

According to Bloomberg on the 11th (local time), at 6 a.m. Eastern Time, Bitcoin surged by as much as 3.3% to break past $122,000. This still falls short of the previous record high set in mid-July. Meanwhile, Ether, which soared past $4,300 over the weekend, was trading down 1.6% at around $4,180 at the same time.

Data aggregated by Coingecko shows that US digital asset financial firms currently hold Bitcoin reserves valued at $11.3 billion.

Over the weekend, it was reported that Harvard University currently holds around $120 million (approximately ₩16.7 billion) worth of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Rachel Lucas, a cryptocurrency analyst for the BTC market, commented, "Bitcoin’s new push for an all-time high is due to corporate holdings demand, institutional inflows into US spot ETFs, and shifting investment sentiment from US tariffs on imported gold." She explained, "Amid supply bottlenecks and policy risks facing gold, Bitcoin is gaining attention as a tariff-free store of value."

According to data from Strategic Ether Reserve, US companies’ Ethereum holdings, including equivalent assets, have now reached around $13 billion.

A Reuters analysis last week of public filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found that as of the end of July this year, US-listed companies held at least 966,304 Ethereum, an increase of over eightfold compared to last year’s year-end holdings.

Despite today’s decline, the Ethereum options market reflected bullish sentiment with an overall put-call ratio of 0.40. Deribit data shows call options expiring December 26 are most heavily concentrated at the $6,000 strike price.

Sean McNulty, APAC Head of Derivatives Trading at FalconX, said the positioning of Bitcoin and Ethereum is heavily skewed toward September and December call options.

The impact of President Trump signing an executive order last week allowing cryptocurrencies to be held in US retirement 401k accounts continues to reverberate.

Eric Trump, son of US President Trump, who has direct financial interests in several digital asset companies, welcomed the Ethereum rally in a post on social media over the weekend. Previously, Bloomberg reported that World Liberty Financial, supported by the Trump family, is soliciting investor opinions on plans to establish a public company holding the WLFI token issued by the firm.

Lucas added that for Bitcoin, the next key milestone will be near the previous record of $123,205, and if current momentum weakens, support could be found around $116,000.

Contributed by Jung-A Kim, Guest Reporter kja@hankyung.com