- Bitcoin price just topped $113,800.
- It's up nearly 100% in the past year.
It keeps happening.
Bitcoin smashed through another record on Thursday, hitting $113,800 for the first time in its history. The top crypto has enjoyed a nearly 100% price rally this year.
What’s behind the move? Relentless inflows into exchange-traded funds, a wave of corporate Bitcoin buys, and growing bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this year.
That’s not to mention the much-awaited regulatory clarity coming from Washington, D.C.
Bitcoin ETFs
According to data from Farside Investors, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have had inflows on 19 of the past 20 days, adding $2.6 billion in that stretch.
Led by BlackRock, the group now holds over $130 billion.
“ETF flows continue to support a Bitcoin breakout,” research firm Ecoinometrics wrote on X on Thursday, just hours before the surge. “Our ETF flows model puts the expected price of Bitcoin at $119,000.”
Strategy’s stratagem
ETFs aren’t the only game in town.
Nearly 260 companies now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, as the treasury strategy pioneered by Michael Saylor gains traction. Collectively, they hold more than 852,549 Bitcoin worth about $96 billion, according to Bitcointreasuries.net.
Investors are also watching the Fed. Traders are now pricing in a 68% chance of a rate cut by September and an 86% chance by October, according to CME FedWatch.
Lower rates could send even more capital into Bitcoin and other risk assets.
Dry powder
Capital sitting on the sidelines has also prompted market watchers to reckon that the rally is just getting started.
Bitwise, Bernstein, and Standard Chartered have all predicted Bitcoin’s price to hit $200,000 by year end.
Moreover, Bitcoin traders plowed $868 million into bets that the price will surpass $140,000 before September. Bitcoin sits 23% below target — a gap it’s closed before in days.
Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.