Bitcoin surpasses $60,000 fueled by institutional accumulation

Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed the $60,000 price mark and sits at $60,512.68 at the time of writing after an 18,7% price leap in the last seven days. According to data aggregator CoinGecko, the last time BTC stayed above this price level was on November 20, 2021.

The massive gains resulted in over $120 million in liquidations by traders betting on a price pullback from Bitcoin, data from Coinglass shows. Ethereum contracts also showed significant liquidation volume, with over $50 million of short contracts going red.

Ben Caselin, CMO of crypto exchange VALR, attributes the price increase to institutional accumulation driven by BlackRock and other ETF issuers, as well as corporations such as MicroStrategy. However, he highlights that this could be only the beginning, and Bitcoin price “is likely to soar considerably higher, especially in light of the upcoming Halving.”

“What’s also interesting to note is that while Bitcoin is approaching its previous all-time high at $69,000, in a number of countries, such as South Africa, Nigeria, and even Japan, Bitcoin has already reached new highs. There is clearly something very wrong with the global economy and Bitcoin acts as a signal for that,” Caselin adds.

The trader who identifies himself as Rekt Capital shared on X that “the time for deeper pullbacks has ended,” adding that the BTC pre-halving rally should last more weeks before another pre-halving retrace.

In another X post, Rekt Capital shares his read that only two major resistances, located at $61,000 and $65,000, are holding Bitcoin from hitting new all-time highs. Meanwhile, the “Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index” is at 82 points out of 100, which translates to extreme greed.

A conservative forecast by Bitfinex analysts puts Bitcoin between $100,000 and $120,000 by Q4 2024, with crypto total market cap peak being achieved sometime in 2025.

“The ETFs have introduced ‘passive demand’ which means demand is coming from investors that is largely price agnostic. They perceive Bitcoin as a store of value rather than a tradable volatile asset, which has been the case for several years before the introduction of the ETFs,” Bitfinex analysts comment.

Moreover, the existence of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US potentially means that any decline following the top of the current cycle could be less drastic than previous downturns, Bitfinex analysts add. A similar stable trajectory in price was seen after a huge increase following the launch of gold ETFs.

However, Bitfinex analysts warn that from an investment perspective, it is advisable to assess the situation and various futures and on-chain market metrics once the cycle comes to an end, to take a more definitive view.