On December 5th, after the US trading session had closed, Bitcoin surged past $100,000, driven by a strong bullish momentum, and is trading at $102,818 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko. ForkLog consulted experts on the potential ceiling for the digital gold’s price in the current market phase.
Thanks to Powell
Trader Vladimir Cohen believes the stabilization of the leading cryptocurrency following its sharp rise indicates market control by major players. He attributes the growth primarily to the positive remarks made by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on December 4th.
“There were doubts about a rate cut in December, but Powell clearly stated his intention to continue easing monetary policy. There is no confrontation with the Republicans, and liquidity in the stock market will remain in 2025,” Cohen explained.
The trader noted that Powell’s statements initiated a noticeable capital shift: investors are taking profits in the US stock market and moving funds into Bitcoin as a riskier asset.
“This situation is generally beneficial for Wall Street because they profit from auctions, MicroStrategy shares, and Bitcoin ETF trading. Bitcoin has become an asset class that interests major Wall Street players, which is a key reason for the optimism,” he explained.
Based on this, Cohen predicts that Bitcoin could “realistically surge” above $200,000-250,000 in the next six months, provided there is sufficient liquidity in the first quarter of 2025. However, he does not rule out a scenario where, after briefly trading above $100,000, some distribution occurs.
“A crucial aspect is whether retail investors will get involved. Bitcoin is generally considered expensive, and this rise might trigger greed among retail investors, but I don’t expect significant inflows from them. I believe everything will really depend on Wall Street, the flow from the US stock market, and the policies of major investors,” the trader noted.
According to his optimistic forecast, the level above $100,000 will hold until the Christmas rally in December, after which a slight correction to around $85,000-90,000 is likely, followed by a jump to $120,000.
“I am optimistic about next year. I believe it’s quite realistic to reach $200,000 even in the first half of the year, followed by a significant correction. But such large-scale corrections of 60-80%, as seen before, won’t happen anymore, as Bitcoin has become a mature financial asset with a market cap of over $2 trillion. Consequently, it now has slightly different parameters and Price Action. It won’t move with such crazy volatility, although many major players are still interested in that,” Cohen concluded.
The US as a Catalyst for Change
Blum co-founder Vladimir Smerkis believes that events in America in 2024 “added fuel to the cryptocurrency train,” starting with ETFs on Bitcoin and Ethereum, and ending with the victory of Donald Trump, who supported the industry. He also mentioned the upcoming change of the US SEC chair and speculation about the charges being dropped against former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
“There are many expectations, and most have already played out. We saw exactly this rapid growth before the ETF approval in the spring. Therefore, I expect the industry to grow at least until the US presidential inauguration,” Smerkis shared.
In his observations, the altcoin market has only just begun to react to the movements of the leading cryptocurrency, so high volatility and room for growth are likely.
“But even a total crypto market cap of $3.5 trillion is too small to neglect caution and take leverage at x500,” the expert warned.
Surprises from Trump
Author of the Telegram channel “CryptoGrandpa” Konstantin Koshelev predicts Bitcoin will move in the range of $98,000-104,000 in the short term and expects headlines like “Bitcoin falls below $100,000 and now stands at $99,999.”
He does not foresee a sharp correction for now.
“Everyone thought there were many orders at $100,000, but when we broke that figure, we soared to $104,000,” Koshelev pointed out.
While positive news fuels the crypto market, the expert did not rule out unpleasant surprises.
“The bull run will last until spring, certainly until Trump’s arrival, and then we’ll see how many aces he has up his sleeve. He has chosen a new SEC chair who is very positive about the cryptocurrency sector,” Koshelev added.
He hopes that in the current cycle, Bitcoin can double in value, but his immediate target is $120,000.
As reported, according to on-chain data from late November to early December, awakened Bitcoin whales are selling coins very slowly.