Bitcoin Closes the Week at $106,000 — What’s Driving the Rally?

Bitcoin Price Surge: Bitcoin’s price surge comes just days before the US Congress is set to debate key cryptocurrency legislation.

Top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world: Ranked by market cap — as of May 2025 (FIle) — Top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world: Ranked by market cap — as of May 2025 (File)

Bitcoin Price Surge: Bitcoin price rallied to another peak of $106,000 per unit Sunday, May 18, hitting its highest level since early February this year. This also reportedly marks the highest weekly closing price for Bitcoin to date. In December last year, the token had set a benchmark of $104,298.70 for the week.

The market capitalisation of the flagship cryptocurrency reached $2.11 trillion, with reports stating that more than $44 million in short positions tied to Bitcoin were liquidated across derivatives platforms.

It seems there are two main factors that have provided the impetus for the latest Bitcoin price surge. US President Donald Trump has proposed a bill of legislative priorities, that he has referred to as the “big, beautiful bill”, which includes a five per cent tax on remittances sent by non-US citizens to their home countries.

This proposal will reportedly affect over 40 million people living in the US, who wire part of their income to their families living abroad. While countries like Mexico have opposed the proposed remittance tax, President Trump’s bill has advanced after being cleared by the US House Budget Committee in a late-night vote on Sunday.

Analysts have warned that the bill could lead migrants to explore the use of alternative, ‘unauthorised channels’ like crypto to make remittances and evade the proposed tax. Self-hosted crypto wallets fall outside the scope of the bill since they do not fit the definition of remittance-transfer providers, according to crypto advocacy group Coin Center.

Also read: CERT-In warns of multiple security flaws in Google Chrome; here’s what you should know

Another likely reason for the increase in buying of Bitcoin is upcoming regulation. For several years now, crypto companies have been pushing for regulation as a way of formally introducing cryptocurrency into the established financial system. Now, a US bill that proposes to regulate stablecoin issues is set to be taken up by US Congress this week.

“Next week, the Senate will make history when we debate and pass the Genius Act that establishes the first ever pro-growth regulatory framework for payment stablecoins,” Republican senator Bill Hagerty was quoted as saying.

The bill was reportedly redrafted in the eleventh hour to satisfy Democrats concerned with consumer protection and national security elements, according to a report by Coindesk.

Bitcoin has witnessed extreme price swings this year amid panic over the collapse of the US dollar spurred by President Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries. In April, Bitcoin price plummeted by 30 per cent from its all-time high of almost $110,00 to around $75,000 per unit.