Crypto Faithful Rejoice, Shorts Hurt as a $100 Billion Era Nears

For months, Bitcoin sat still. The ‘number only goes up’ prophecy did not deliver. The faithful waited.

Now though the liturgy returns, after the world’s largest cryptocurrency surged past $123,000 for the first time on Monday.

Thank the convergence of government-friendly policy momentum and big-money positioning. House Republicans declared “Crypto Week” in Washington as stablecoin legislation inches closer to passage. In the latest easing of the regulatory stance, US officials on Monday issued fresh guidelines for how banks can offer custody services tied to the digital asset class.

The losers: Non-believers who were caught in a short squeeze that wiped ...