- Bitcoin (BTC) is on the verge of hitting $100,000, with prices hovering just above $99,000 after a recent rally.
- US spot BTC ETFs saw net inflows of over $1 billion, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading at $600 million.
- While there is strong demand and long-term bullish bets with futures and options prices above $100,000 through 2025, a short-term pullback near $100,000 is expected.
Bitcoin (BTC) prices are just over 1% away from the all-time high of $100,000, almost 15 years after the asset was first issued.
BTC prices climbed above $99,200 early Friday, falling to $98,600 before surging above $99,000 in the Asian afternoon. The overall market cap stands at a record $3.4 trillion, an increase of 4.5% in the last 24 hours, mainly driven by BTC’s 2% jump (BTC accounts for over 56% of total market capitalization).
Spot BTC exchange-traded funds offered in the United States saw over $1 billion in net inflows, the data showsled by BlackRock’s IBIT with $600 million in purchases. Fidelity’s FBTC saw over $300 million in inflows, with no outflows from any of the eleven ETFs.
BTC’s strength leads to a rotation of other major tokens ahead of the weekend, supported by new bullish hopes for a crypto-friendly Trump administration that takes office in January.
Ether (ETH) is up nearly 9% in the past 24 hours, boosting various indices that track decentralized finance (DeFi) more broadly. sector of at least 8%. Notable Ethereum-based memecoins such as mog (MOG) and pepe (PEPE) are up 27% thanks to their tendency to act as beta bets on the growth of ETH.
Solana’s SOL is up 8%, setting new highs above $260 amid U.S. exchange trading fund (ETF) deposits and continued use of blockchain at speculative trading purposes. Cardano’s ADA is up 12%, the second largest gain among the majors after XRP.
Elsewhere, XRP soared 25%, leading growth among major tokens, as SEC Chairman Gary Gensler announced he would resign in January. dissipate contrary winds for tokens linked to US companies.
Traders expect BTC prices to remain strong in the near term.
“We continue to see strong demand for BTC alongside further monetary policy easing from global central banks. BTC prices are expected to remain supported as we approach the end of the year,” said QCP Capital traders in a Friday show. “Throughout the week, our office observed aggressive demand on the March and June calls, signaling long-term bullish investor sentiment for next year.”
Deribit’s BTC futures contracts expiring in March, June and September 2025 are trading above $100,000. The BTC call option at the $100,000 strike now shows open interest of over $2 billion, indicating traders’ expectations of an upward move.
However, we can expect a short-term pullback from the $100.00 level. like many CoinDesk Analysis observed at the start of the week.
