Bitcoin Nears $100K, With Crypto Market Cap at Record $3.4T

As a seasoned researcher who has witnessed the evolution of cryptocurrencies from their humble beginnings, I find myself both intrigued and cautiously optimistic about the current state of Bitcoin (BTC). The surge towards the $100,000 mark is undeniably impressive, especially considering that it’s just 15 years since its inception.

As a researcher exploring the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies, I find myself on the brink of an exciting milestone. Bitcoin (BTC) prices are hovering just over 1% shy of touching $100,000, marking a remarkable journey that spans close to 15 years since its initial release into the financial landscape.

Bitcoin prices soared to more than $99,200 early Friday morning, subsequently falling to about $98,600 before maintaining above $99,000 during the Asian afternoon. The cumulative market value currently hovers at a historic peak of around $3.4 trillion, experiencing an increase of 4.5% over the last day, with BTC contributing approximately 2%. In other words, Bitcoin makes up over half (56%) of the total market capitalization.

In the United States, Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds saw a total of more than $1 billion in new investments last week, according to available data. The majority of these investments, approximately $600 million, were made in BlackRock’s IBIT fund. Fidelity’s FBTC also attracted over $300 million in investments, with none of the eleven ETFs experiencing outflows during this period.

The strong performance of Bitcoin could cause a shift toward other significant cryptocurrencies before the weekend, driven by increased optimism about a pro-crypto administration taking office in January, which some see as being friendly to digital assets.

In the last 24 hours, Ether (ETH) has surged by almost 9%, causing a rise of at least 8% in indices monitoring the wider decentralized finance (DeFi) market. Remarkably, Ethereum-linked meme tokens like mog (MOG) and pepe (PEPE) have soared up to 27%, largely due to their tendency to mirror ETH’s growth trajectory.

Solana’s SOL has surged by 8% to hit new heights above $260, fueled by U.S.-based ETF filings and ongoing popularity for speculative trading on its blockchain. Meanwhile, Cardano‘s ADA is up 12%, registering the second-largest gains among major cryptocurrencies after XRP.

In other areas, the price of XRP surged by 25%, showing significant growth compared to other significant tokens. This rise occurred when Chair Gary Gensler of the SEC announced his resignation for January, easing potential obstacles for tokens tied to U.S. companies.

Traders expect BTC prices to continue holding strong in the short term.

Traders at QCP Capital believe that Bitcoin’s popularity will persist as global central banks continue to loosen their monetary policies. This trend is expected to keep Bitcoin prices steady as we move towards the end of the year. Additionally, our observations show a significant increase in demand for Bitcoin Call options for March and June 2023, which suggests that investors are optimistic about Bitcoin’s price growth in the coming year.

The futures contracts for Bitcoin on Deribit that expire in March, June, and September 2025 are currently trading above $100,000. This suggests that there is a large demand for Bitcoin call options with a strike price of $100,000, as the open interest for these options exceeds $2 billion. This high level of open interest indicates that traders anticipate Bitcoin’s price to rise.

It’s likely we may experience a temporary drop near the $100,000 mark, according to several analyses shared by CoinDesk earlier this week.