Bitcoin is back to flirting with $100K — and we’re still two weeks away from Donald Trump officially reclaiming the White House.
The king of cryptocurrencies has risen by almost 7% since the new year, and was trading at more than $99K a token on the morning of Monday, 6 January, in Asia, according to CoinGecko.
Other tokens are not missing the party either. Ether, XRP and Solana are posted 12% to 15% gains.
Why? Trump’s return to DC has crypto bulls in a frenzy. They are hyping it as the next big catalyst that will send Bitcoin soaring. For instance, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has doubled down on the buzz, saying that “the Trump bull market is real.”
Price predictions are flying, starting at $120K and climbing higher. And it’s the usual suspects who seem to be laying the groundwork for these bold forecasts.
Read more: Morocco’s U-turn on crypto has a details problem: MONIIFY Scoop
Big money moves money
Big players tend to dial back risk and clean up their balance sheets for the year-end, something we flagged back when Bitcoin was being boring.
But they are BACK, back now.
Bitcoin’s latest price bump comes on the heels of positive news from US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which pulled in nearly $1 billion in inflows on 6 January, according to SoSoValue.
BlackRock’s IBIT ETF too shook off last week’s wobble — after $332 million in outflows on Thursday, it bounced back with $253 million in inflows on Friday. It’s simple to understand this: investors are betting on Bitcoin staying hot.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin HODLers MicroStrategy and Metaplanet, who both hold $44 billion and $174 million in BTC, respectively, aren’t just watching — they’ve hinted at buying billions more this year.
Read more: Finding the ‘strategy’ in MicroStrategy…
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is quietly slipping off exchanges, hitting bottom levels of around 30,000 in daily deposits, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.
Fewer BTC tokens on the market could mean we are going to see a supply squeeze, and if demand holds steady, prices might get an extra boost.
But wait…
Not everyone’s convinced this rally has legs. Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, says in a client note that he expects a pullback before the 15 January CPI data — a key inflation gauge that could shape rate expectations.
Lower inflation data might boost Bitcoin going into Trump’s inauguration, but Thielen warns momentum could fizzle before the 29 January Federal Reserve meeting.
Right now, CME Group’s FedWatch tool puts the odds that the Fed will keep interest rates steady after the meeting at 88%. Potentially bad news for Bitcoin.
Remember last month? Bitcoin tumbled 15% to $92,800 after the Fed tempered 2025 rate cut hopes at its 18 December meeting.
So, here’s the big question: Will Trump’s inauguration send Bitcoin into uncharted territory, or will the Fed trump The Donald and rain on the crypto party?
All eyes are on January and it’s about to get interesting. Keep your popcorn and your crypto wallet handy.
