Bitcoin passes $120,000 milestone as US Congress readies for ‘crypto week’

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Bitcoin passed a record milestone of $120,000 a token on Monday as US lawmakers prepared to consider a number of bills aimed at creating clearer regulatory frameworks for digital assets.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency climbed 2.5 per cent to trade at a new high of $122,105 a token and has risen more than 10 per cent in the past seven days. It surged above $100,000 for the first time in December.

The US Congress is preparing for what the House of Representatives has dubbed “crypto week”, aimed at making “America the crypto capital of the world”.

“For capital allocators, what’s most attractive is having some semblance of clarity,” said Tim Chen, global head of strategy at financial services firm Mantle.

In the next five days, US lawmakers will consider the Genius Act, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.

“We are advancing landmark legislation to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets,” said French Hill, chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, earlier this month.

President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” becoming law has contributed to the rally in bitcoin. “The passage has been interpreted by many market participants as a green light to buy everything. You see that across multiple asset classes,” said Le Shi, head of trading at Auros, a digital-focused market-making firm.

The US Senate has already approved the Genius Act, a bill that enables private companies to issue stablecoins, and its passage is expected to drive demand for short-term US government debt at a time of mounting pressure on longer-dated debt in global bond markets.

The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency.

The Clarity Act would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets that will “establish clear lines” between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for regulating digital assets.

The rally in bitcoin comes as companies around the world buy the cryptocurrency for their corporate treasuries, even if they are in industries unrelated to digital assets.

“This move higher likely has legs, as public companies with bitcoin on their balance sheets and fresh capital raises will need to keep buying to maintain their treasury exposure,” said Darius Sit, founder of digital asset market maker QCP.

Greater regulatory clarity will only increase the trend and “usher in a wave of capital and founders”, said Mantle’s Chen. “It means the US is open for business.”