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Bitcoin rejoined the crypto rally on Friday amid reports that President-elect Donald Trump could release an executive order making crypto a national priority as soon as day 1 of his new term.

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by more than 2% at $103,174.90, according to Coin Metrics. The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 index, was up another 1%, after a 4% increase Thursday.

Shares of exchange operators Coinbase and Robinhood advanced about 5% each. Trading activity in small cap cryptocurrencies benefits trading platforms. Appetite for smaller cap, higher risk coins has grown ahead of Trump’s inauguration, with litecoin surging 26% in the past two days.

The moves follow a Bloomberg report late Thursday that Trump could create the crypto advisory council he previously promised, giving the industry a voice within his administration. A bitcoin stockpile is part of discussions about a possible executive order that would cover several areas of crypto policy, the New York Times reported the same day.

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Bitcoin trades above $100,000 ahead of Trump’s inauguration

Coins and crypto projects outside of bitcoin arguably stand to gain more from clear and supportive policy and regulation as they’ve been more of a target of SEC lawsuits and alleged banking discrimination under the Biden administration. Some investors say bitcoin could see a rocket ship rally, however, if a national stockpile or reserve is established.

Bitcoin has been trading closely with stocks so far this year. It’s been in consolidation mode since late December, when Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounded an inflation alarm that subsided this week after two cool December inflation reports. Bitcoin ETFs have seen more than $1 billion in inflows in the past two days.

Investors expect any announcements from the incoming administration next week to send bitcoin higher – potentially to a new record. Heightened expectations come after warnings from Wall Street this month that although having a pro-crypto Congress and White House in 2025 is sure to be supportive for innovation in the industry and asset class, it could take a while before the market feels the impact.

“The new administration and a new SEC chairman opens the door for new opportunity in cryptocurrency innovation,” JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington said in a note this week. However, he added, “we don’t see a next wave of cryptocurrency [exchange-traded product] launches as being meaningful for the crypto ecosystem given much smaller market capitalization of other tokens and far lower investor interest.”

Bitcoin’s record is $108,327.01, from Dec. 17. It’s up 9% in 2025.

Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro:

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More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says

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More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says

“Supply constrained,” are the two of the most important words CNBC’s Jim Cramer said he’s heard so far during earnings season and explained why this dynamic is favorable for companies.

“When you’re supplied constrained, you have the ability to raise prices, and that’s the holy grail in any industry,” he said.

Intel‘s strong earnings results were in part because of more demand than supply, Cramer suggested. He noted that the company’s CFO, David Zinsner, said the semiconductor maker is supply constrained for a number of products, and that “industry supply has tightened materially.”

Along with Intel, other tech names that are also supply constrained and performing well on the market include Micron, AMD and Nvidia, Cramer continued.

These companies don’t have enough product in part because the storage needs of artificial intelligence are incredible high, Cramer said. He added that he thinks demand has overwhelmed supply because semiconductor capital equipment companies didn’t manufacture enough of their own machines as they simply didn’t anticipate such a volume of orders.

Outside of tech, Cramer said he thinks airplane maker Boeing and energy company GE Vernova are also supply constrained, adding that he thinks the former will say it’s short on most of its planes when it reports earnings next week. GE Vernova is supply constrained with its power equipment, like turbines that burn natural gas, he continued, which is the primary energy source for the ever-growing crop of data centers.

GE Vernova and Boeing are also set to be winners because they make big-ticket items that other countries can buy from the U.S. to help close the trade deficit, Cramer added.

“In the end, we have more demand than supply in a host of industries and that’s the ticket for good stock performance,” he said. “I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

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3 takeaways from Intel earnings: Cash flow, foundry progress and hardware surprise

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3 takeaways from Intel earnings: Cash flow, foundry progress and hardware surprise

Wall Street remains skeptical on Intel despite its return to profitability

Intel snapped a losing streak of six straight quarterly losses and returned to profitability in the third quarter.

In its first earnings report since the Trump administration acquired a 10% stake in the company, the U.S. chipmaker posted strong revenue, noting robust demand for chips that it expects to continue into 2026.

Client computing revenue, which includes chips for PCs and laptops, grew 5% year over year, benefiting from PC market stabilization and artificial intelligence PC prospects.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a call with analysts Thursday that artificial intelligence “is a strong foundation for sustainable long-term growth as we execute.”

The chip strength and demand were bright spots, but there were areas of concern as well, with the company’s foundry business still needing a big break.

Here are three takeaways from the chipmaker’s Q3 report:

Cash flow

“We significantly improved our cash position and liquidity in Q3, a key focus for me since becoming CEO in March,” Tan said on a call with analysts Thursday.

Intel landed an $8.9 billion investment from the U.S. government in August, along with $2 billion from Softbank, but has not yet received the $5 billion tied to a deal with Nvidia. The company expects that deal to close by the end of Q4.

With all of those transactions completed, plus the Altera sale, Intel will have $35 billion in cash on hand, CFO David Zinser told CNBC.

The U.S. government is the company’s biggest shareholder, and Intel stock is up more than 50% since Aug. 22, when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the deal.

“Like any shareholder, we have to keep in touch with them,” Zinser said of the U.S. stake. “We don’t tell them how the numbers are going before the quarter. We generally talk to them like Fidelity,” another Intel shareholder.

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Intel 3-month stock chart.

Foundry

The firm’s foundry remains a work in progress.

Revenue fell 2% over the year before, and it has yet to land a major customer.

Intel now has two fabs running 18A nodes, which are designed for AI and high-performance computing applications.

“We are making steady progress on Intel 18A,” Tan said of its latest chip technology. “We are on track to bring Panther Lake to market this year.”

Zinser said the more advanced 14A nodes won’t be put in supply until the company has “real firm demand.”

Old stuff still selling

Zinser said the company’s older chipmaking processes, or nodes, have continued to do well, “and that was probably the part that was more unexpected.”

Zinser said the chipmaker met some of the central processing unit (CPU) demand with inventory on hand, but they will be behind in Q1, “probably Q2 and maybe in Q3.”

The supply crunch has been with older Intel 10 and 7 manufacturing technologies.

Many customers are opting for less advanced hardware to refresh their operating systems, demonstrating enterprises aren’t waiting for cutting-edge chips when proven technology gets the job done.

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What Cramer expects from 10 stocks reporting earnings next week; calls two buys

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What Cramer expects from 10 stocks reporting earnings next week; calls two buys

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