Bitcoin is close to $73,000 in Asian trade, approaching a record high with investors keeping a cautious eye on the US presidential election.
The leading digital currency was trading around $72,470 at 0800 GMT, after climbing as high as $73,563.63 in late US trade, just shy of its all-time peak of $73,797.98 in March.
The surge in the price of bitcoin is seen as a bet on a Republican victory, as Donald Trump has emerged as the pro-crypto candidate.
The price of bitcoin closely follows Trump’s standing in the polls because a Republican victory would lead to an increase in demand for the digital currency, said Russ Mould, an analyst at AJ Bell.
During his presidency Trump referred to cryptocurrencies as a scam, but has since radically changed his position, presenting himself as a “pro-bitcoin president” if elected and even launching his own crypto platform.
With the uncertainty surrounding the very tight US election, safe-haven gold also reached a record high of $2,787.07 on Wednesday.
Oil prices rebounded slightly after falling sharply earlier in the week as fears of an escalation in the Middle East eased after Israel’s strikes on Iran avoided the country’s energy infrastructure.
“The broader performance in oil prices seems slightly discordant with what is happening across the globe,” said Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
“It seems as if oil prices are ignoring improving economic data in the US and stimulus efforts from China to revive its struggling economy.”
Asian stocks fell following a mixed lead from Wall Street, with markets in a risk-off, wait-and-see mode ahead of the US election and the Federal Reserve’s rate decision next week.
Tokyo was virtually the sole advancer, closing one percent higher as the Nikkei continued its run-up on the yen’s weakness and tech gains. Manila was the only other market in the green.
Hong Kong led the decliners, falling 1.6 percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok also retreated.
In Europe, London, Paris and Frankfurt were all lower in opening trade.
