After bitcoin climbed above $93,000 today — another all-time high — some traders are speculating that Gulf oil money could be behind the currency’s record-breaking rally.
This week, a rumor began circulating that Middle Eastern petrostates Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), or Qatar might be buying bitcoin at a sovereign level. Some speculators believe they will announce their purchases in a few weeks at a major conference in Abu Dhabi.
Bitcoin conference organizer BTC Inc., which hosted Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, is set to welcome attendees to a satellite conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE on December 9-10.
David Bailey got Trump. Can he get MBS?
David Bailey, the conference host and CEO of Bitcoin Magazine who personally arranged for President-elect Donald Trump to speak at Bitcoin 2024, cryptically tweeted today that “the United States is being front run on its bitcoin strategy and must stand up the SBR [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve] as quickly as possible.”
Read more: Trump win sends Bitcoin price to all-time high — and boosts 8 key metrics
Fans of his political maneuvering are hopeful that he might be able to get Mohammed bin Salman, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE, or the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Many investors are discussing the possibility that Saudi money is flowing into bitcoin. Saudi Arabia isn’t only the largest petrostate in the Gulf but is of particular interest today after the market capitalization of bitcoin flippened Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company.
UAE is another guess, not only because of its vast oil wealth but also because of the location of December’s Bitcoin conference: Abu Dhabi.
A third Gulf petrostate, Qatar, is a perennial guess for sovereign investment in bitcoin, with recirculating chatter the past few weeks.