Bitcoin notched another record high near $95,000 Wednesday as cryptocurrencies continue to trend higher in the wake of the U.S. election results. Meanwhile, BlackRock and Grayscale introduced options for their spot bitcoin ETFs. Elsewhere, MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor plans to pitch bitcoin as an investment to Microsoft, after MicroStrategy acquired another $4.6 billion of bitcoin, and is raising funds to buy even more.
Bitcoin rallied to a new record of $94,963 early Wednesday, CoinDesk data showed, surpassing the Nov. 13 high of $93,445 that followed the U.S. elections. BTC held near $94,200 late Wednesday. The world's top cryptocurrency has vaulted 125% so far this year.
Bitcoin ETF Options Launch
Options trading for spot bitcoin ETFs go live this week after the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) on Nov. 18 announced it was preparing for the investment vehicles.
BlackRock launched options trading for its iShares Bitcoin Trust on Tuesday and tallied nearly $1.9 billion in notional exposure with 354,000 contracts traded, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. The action included 289,000 calls and 65,000 puts, representing a 4.4:1 call-to-put ratio. That indicates a larger number of investors believe bitcoin's price will move higher, compared to those hedging against a potential decline.
"These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new bitcoin all time highs," Seyffart wrote. Fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the trading volumes "unheard of" for the first day.
Grayscale and Bitwise are following following suit Wednesday and launching options trading for their own bitcoin ETFs. Grayscale is initiating options for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and its Bitcoin Mini Trust to "further (develop) the ecosystem around our US-listed Bitcoin ETPs," the company announced Tuesday. Options for the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust will also begin, CEO Hunter Horsley announced Monday.
The OCC also includes new options listings for the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin, but the pair have not announced intial dates at the time of writing.
Saylor's Pitch, MicroStrategy Buys More Crypto
Elsewhere, MicroStrategy co-founder and chairman Michael Saylor plans to pitch bitcoin as an investment strategy to Microsoft's board of directors, he announced during an X Space discussion hosted by VanEck.
Microsoft shareholders are scheduled to vote on whether the company should conduct an assessment of bitcoin as an investment vehicle on Dec. 10. Saylor agreed to present a 3-minute pitch to the board, where he will argue it increases shareholder value and reduces stock volatility.
"It would be a lot more stable stock and a much less risky stock if half of the enterprise value of the stock was based upon tangible assets or property like bitcoin," Saylor said during the Spaces event.
MicroStrategy on Nov. 18 announced it acquired another 51,780 bitcoin for around $4.6 billion, worth roughly $88,627 per coin. The company on Monday also filed to raise $1.75 billion in a private offering in order to buy more BTC. Saylor announced Wednesday that MicroStrategy increased the offer to $2.6 billion due to high demand.
As of Nov. 17, MicroStrategy holds 331,200 bitcoin acquired for $16.5 billion at about $49,874 per coin.
Crypto Stock Action
Cryptocurrency prices and stocks were mixed Wednesday following their early rise as bitcoin clocked a new record.
Coinbase reversed to a 1.4% decline Wednesday after surging 2.5% premarket. MicroStrategy rallied 10%, hitting another all-time high following its almost 12% jump Tuesday.
IBIT and the other spot ETFs climbed about 2%.
Miners Hut 8, Hive Digital and Iren retreated more than 3%, after their premarket gains ranged from 3% to nearly 5%.
CleanSpark eased 0.9%, while Bit Digital rose a fraction.
Core Scientific and MARA Holdings advanced nearly 5% and 14%, respectively.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
