NEW YORK/SINGAPORE, July 11 (Reuters) - Bitcoin rallied

to an all-time high on Friday, powered by demand from

institutional investors and friendly policies of U.S. President

Donald Trump's administration.

The world's largest cryptocurrency rose to a peak of

$116,781.10 in the Asian session on Friday, taking its gains for

the year thus far to more than 24%.

In March, Trump signed an executive order to establish a

strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies. He has also appointed

several crypto-friendly individuals, including Securities and

Exchange Commission Paul Atkins and White House artificial

intelligence czar David Sacks.

Trump's family businesses have also made forays into

cryptocurrencies. Trump Media & Technology Group ( DJT ) is

looking to launch an exchange-traded fund to invest in multiple

crypto tokens including Bitcoin, a SEC filing on Tuesday showed.

Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency,

similarly jumped more than 5% to last trade at $2,964.02, after

earlier hitting a five-month high of $2,998.41.