Dec. 5, 2024

CoinDesk 20 Index: 3,983.81  +1.63%
Bitcoin (BTC): $102,835.66  +7.11%
Ether (ETH): $$3,922.55  +5.67%
S&P 500: 6,086.49  +0.61%
Gold: $2,648.40  -0.15%
Nikkei 225: 39,395.60  +0.3%

Bitcoin's price passed the $100,000 mark for the first time. BTC reached the milestone at around 02:30 UTC finally overcoming the resistance that had thwarted previous ascents over the past two weeks. Now ahead about 130% year-to-date, bitcoin's market capitalization has risen to just shy of $2 trillion only 15 years after coming into existence. In comparison, Nvidia and Apple sport market caps of about $3.5 trillion, Microsoft $3 trillion and Google and Amazon $2.2 trillion. The market capitalization of all the gold in the world is roughly $17.7 trillion.

BTC's rapid price ascent spurred fears among some watchers of a local market top that could send prices tumbling as low as $90,000. But a seasonally bullish holiday period, demand from ETFs and higher mainstream media attention could fuel more demand for bitcoin in the coming weeks, traders say. "We believe there is more room for a rally, as there must be some demand waiting for BTC to break 100K, which will capture more public attention," Presto Research investment analyst Min Jung said. "Moreover, BTC remains small compared to other macro assets, and the growth of its market cap will attract large institutions that are now able to allocate a meaningful size."

An address tied to long-defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox moved large amounts of BTC to an unidentified address following BTC's rise above $100,000. The address labeled as Mt. Gox (1FHOD) by analytics firm Arkham Intelligence moved 27,871 BTC worth $2.8 billion to another address. The exchange still holds 39,878 BTC worth over $4 billion at press time. The outflow comes three weeks after the defunct exchange transferred 2,500 BTC to an unknown address and grabbed eyeballs on crypto social media. These on-chain movements are likely related to creditor reimbursements, which were a significant source of bearish pressure this summer. In October, the Mt. Gox trustee postponed the deadline for creditor repayments by one year to Oct. 31, 2025.

Bitcoin is not a competitor of the U.S. dollar but to gold, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said yesterday.

Not only did the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization soar through $100,000, reaching a record $104,000, it's also at an all-time high when priced in gold, worth about 39 ounces, breaking through the last remaining resistance level for that trading pair. It has also hit records against silver and the S&P 500.

Many data points are looking at an extremely bullish end of the year for bitcoin, and why not? It's already up 132% in 2024.

Measuring from the cycle low, which took place during the collapse of crypto exchange FTX back in November 2022, when the price was hovering around $15,000, bitcoin has increased almost sevenfold.

This is typical. Measuring bitcoin from the cycle low against the previous two cycles, bitcoin is currently in between both these cycles in terms of returns. If bitcoin were to finish in between the two previous cycles as it has been doing for much of this cycle, a price target of around $120,000 a token is probable.

- Omkar Godbole