Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $106,000 Thursday morning in the US on reports that US President Donald Trump will speak later today with Nayib Bukele, president of the Bitcoin-friendly nation state of El Salvador.
Bitcoin advanced more than 3% to session highs in the minutes following the report, erasing early morning losses. It rose 2.2% over the last 24 hours.
Earlier this morning, prices began to climb when US Senator Cynthia Lummis posted on social media to “keep me tuned in at 10:00” Eastern Time, only to give back most of the gains after reports that the Senate Banking Committee would vote to confirm Lummis as chair of the panel’s new digital assets subcommittee.
Fueling the gains was speculation that Bitcoin and Crypto Regulation might be among the talking points between the two leaders. El Salvador has become a nascent crypto hub under Bukele’s leadership. It was the first nation-state to adopt BTC as legal tender in 2021 and accumulated over 6,000 BTC worth $622 million as a strategic reserve.
Trump said last year on the campaign trail that, if elected, he aims to position the United States as a global leader in the digital asset space. He also made several crypto-specific promises, including creating a national stockpile or strategic reserve of Bitcoin.
He speaks to Bukele at 3:30 PM ET.
