HONG KONG — Major cryptocurrency tokens, including bitcoin and BNB, reached record highs this week amid government turmoil around the world that drove up alternative asset prices, which elated China’s crypto community as the country reconsiders digital assets such as stablecoins.
Bitcoin passed the US$126,000 level on Monday, a new all-time high for the world’s largest cryptocurrency token, before falling more than 1% to below US$124,000 on Tuesday.
BNB, the native token of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, also hit its own record of US$1,268 on Tuesday. The latest crypto boom propelled Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s personal fortune to US$89.7 billion, according to a Forbes billionaire ranking.
Still, Zhao on Tuesday denied that figure, saying on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that it was “way too high”.
While the reaction of Chinese crypto enthusiasts to bitcoin’s new high was muted on mainland social media, many celebrated the token’s latest achievement on X and envisioned an unprecedented crypto bull market.
The latest gains came as global investors flocked to assets outside major currencies such as the US dollar, which has been under pressure amid a week-long US government shutdown.
Gold prices also set another record by approaching US$4,000, having gained more than 50% since the beginning of this year.
Bitcoin’s surge “signals its role as a hedge against fiscal uncertainty, as the US government shutdown wavers confidence in safe assets”, said Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research.
Bitcoin and gold have attracted the so-called debasement trade from investors “seeking refuge from a volatile monetary landscape”, Ruck said. Debasement trade, a term that recently gained popularity, refers to the trading strategy where investors turn to alternative assets to hedge against fiat currency devaluation.
With bitcoin prices gaining 10% over the past week amid the US government shutdown, the token’s “safe-haven appeal is reasserting itself”, digital asset trading firm QCP Capital said in a note on Monday.
The value of bitcoin has nearly doubled over the past year amid a digital asset industry boom driven by US President Donald Trump’s favourable policies towards the sector, including the US Genius Act, which aims to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
These moves recently spurred intense discussions in China, where experts have called for the country to reexamine its ban on crypto amid rising US influence in digital finance.
While Beijing has given no indication that it will loosen its grip on cryptocurrency, offshore yuan stablecoins have emerged as an area of potential importance for the global competitiveness of the Chinese currency.
Conflux, a government-backed blockchain operator, has been allowed to experiment in the field as Beijing sought to secure a position in the new global financial order, its founder told the Post last week.
