What to know:

  • Bitcoin surged towards $100,000 on Wednesday’s U.S. trading session, gaining 3.2% in the past 24 hours.
  • The rally coincided with significant spot BTC price premium on Coinbase.
  • Fed Chair Jerome Powell called bitcoin a competitor to gold during a panel discussion.

As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the financial markets, I’ve witnessed countless market fluctuations and trends. The recent surge of Bitcoin towards $100,000 is no exception – it’s a spectacle that has piqued my interest and challenged my analytical skills.


On Wednesday, Bitcoin (BTC) had been trading within a narrow band for much of the day. However, in the U.S. afternoon, it unexpectedly started moving towards $100,000, approaching a significant price level that it hadn’t managed to break through for quite some time.

Initially falling to around $95,000 at noon, Bitcoin later surged by almost 5%, reaching a peak of $99,177 during the session, according to CoinDesk data. Being the most valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, Bitcoin increased by 3.2% over the past day, outperforming the CoinDesk 20 Index which had a 1.3% growth.

The unusual surge in Bitcoin’s price can be attributed to increased demand from American investors, as indicated by the elevated levels of the Coinbase Premium – a significant indicator used for such assessments.

Data from TradingView indicates that Bitcoin’s price on Coinbase occasionally exceeded Binance’s price significantly during the price increase, possibly indicating a robust appetite for the cryptocurrency among U.S. investors, who may have been driving the rally.

As a crypto investor, I often compare the pricing discrepancy between Bitcoin (BTC) transactions on Coinbase, a go-to platform for U.S. customers and numerous institutional investors, and those on Binance, the globally recognized exchange with the highest trading volume that’s particularly favored by retail users worldwide. In simple terms, I keep an eye on the Coinbase Premium, which indicates this price difference between the two platforms.

The rally occurred post-event, not necessarily due to but potentially influenced by, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell likening bitcoin to a digital form of gold and a rival of gold during his speech at the New York Times DealBook event on Wednesday. Additionally, prices surged when Donald Trump announced Paul Atkins, perceived as pro-crypto, as his nominee for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Over the past fortnight, I’ve seen Bitcoin hovering around the $100,000 mark, a surge driven by optimism surrounding Trump’s election. Yet, each attempt to surpass this milestone has been met with heavy profit-taking, preventing a breakthrough. However, history tells us that BTC might need several attempts to finally breach the psychologically significant level, as CoinDesk senior analyst James Van Straten notes.

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2024-12-05 00:48