Bitcoin hit a new record high and remained near those levels on Wednesday, as sentiment towards cryptocurrencies remained upbeat on the prospect of friendlier U.S. regulations.

Major altcoins initially retreated for the day, as risk appetite was dented by increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine. However, the performance improved following Bitcoin's jump to a new all-time high. 

Bitcoin rose more than 3% to $94,150.0 by 09:02 ET (14:02 GMT). The world’s biggest crypto hit a record high of nearly $94,500 earlier in the day. 

Bitcoin underpinned by Trump trade, MicroStrategy 

Bitcoin rose sharply over the past two weeks, with gains sparked largely by Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump had promised crypto-friendly regulations, ramping up hopes that such a scenario will draw more institutional capital into crypto. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw heavy inflows since Trump’s win.

But focus was now on just what Trump’s policies will entail for crypto, with the president-elect set to take office in about two months. 

Sentiment towards Bitcoin was also boosted by MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), the world’s biggest corporate holder of the coin, buying a record high $4.6 billion of the coin in the past week. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor indicated that the company will keep buying more coins, issuing more debt to fund its purchases. 

Bitcoin's surge to new record high helped by ETF options launch

Options trading for a spot Bitcoin ETF launched on Tuesday, helping drive Bitcoin’s price to a new all-time high.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)'s iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT) became the first spot Bitcoin ETF approved for options trading, generating nearly $1.9 billion in notional exposure on its first day, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart.

"Final tally of $IBIT's 1st day of options is just shy of $1.9 billion in notional exposure traded via 354k contracts. 289k were Calls and 65k were Puts," Seyffart shared in a post on X. "That's a ratio of 4.4:1. These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new bitcoin all-time highs today."

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted the scale of activity, noting, "$1.9b is unheard of for Day One. For context, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (NYSE:BITO) did $363 million and that's been around for four years," in his own post on X.

Crypto price today: altcoins track Bitcoin's jump 

Broader crypto markets also advanced on Wednesday, tracking Bitcoin's another record-breaking jump. 

Meanwhile, risk appetite in stock markets was seen faltering, as investors hunkered down before closely-watched earnings from market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), due later on Wednesday.

In crypto, world no.2 crypto Ether added around 1% to $3,123.19.

XRP and MATIC jumped around 5% and 7%, respectively, while ADA surged over 13%. 

Among meme tokens, Dogecoin rose 0.5%, remaining in sight of a three-year high hit earlier in November, after Trump’s victory.

Trump referenced the token with the formation of the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, adding to the social media buzz around the popular meme token.