Bitcoin’s latest blistering rally has had the market on tenterhooks waiting for the world’s largest cryptocurrency to surpass $100,000 for the first time.
But the digital currency failed to clinch the lofty target by a whisker after topping out just below $99,600 at the end of last week.
The BTC/USD pair ended up falling more than 1.2% on Friday and while incremental gains were penned over the weekend, the pair is now trending closer to $98,300.
However, bitcoin could see a burst of activity when US institutional traders spur into life this Monday.
Bitcoin gained unprecedented institutional support following the emergence of spot-bitcoin exchange-traded funds earlier this year, with the ETF market ballooning to more than $30 billion of bitcoin under management at the time of writing.
This has given the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity greater influence over the bitcoin spot markets, which could either help or hinder bitcoin’s journey to $100,000.
Donald Trump’s sweeping election victory proved to be another major tailwind for bitcoin, with the so-called ‘Trump trade’ pushing BTC/USD more than 40% since 5 November.
Trump promised a raft of pro-crypto policies in his campaign, including the removal of crypto-sceptic Securities and Exchange Commission SEC) chair Gary Gensler, which has already materialised.
Whether or not bitcoin is able to win $100,000 before 2024 closes could play out this week, as the bulls attempt to prove there is still some Trump trade juice left in the tank.
Bitcoin’s year-to-date performance – Source: tradingview.com