- Bitcoin hit a fresh all-time high on Wednesday.
- But analysts predict it’s only the start of a rally that will see the price climb to $200,000.
- Rally fuelled by bullish sentiment and US policy changes.
Bitcoin surged to a new record trading at $124,529 on Coinbase on Wednesday evening, but market watchers are already anticipating another all-time high.
Mena Theodorou, co-founder of Australian exchange Coinstash, said that US President Donald Trump’s executive order to allow Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be part of people’s retirement plans will open up a $12.5 trillion market for digital assets.
“The move toward $150,000 and beyond could arrive faster than many expect,” Theodorou said in comments shared with DL News.
By unlocking US 401(k)s, crypto companies will not only be able to offer services to some 90 million accounts, but it also signals that other countries may follow, Theodorou argued.
“Where the US leads, the rest of the world often follows,” he said.
Theodorou isn’t the only one bullish about the rally driving the price higher. Bernstein, Bitwise and Standard Chartered have all predicted that the price will hit $200,000 before the end of the year.
Several factors have driven the rally, apart from Trump’s executive order.
Steady inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, over 200 companies adding cryptocurrencies to their treasuries, and a weakening US dollar are the key drivers that fuelled Bitcoin’s march to it’s record high price, cooler-than-expected US inflation, analysts noted.
Emir Ibrahim, analyst at crypto liquidity provider Zerocap, said the surge marks “a shift from the retail-driven hype of past bull runs to a market shaped by institutional adoption, real-world integration, and deep global liquidity.”
Another key driver is the growing anticipation that the Federal Reserve will serve up a jumbo rate cut in September.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business that the Fed should begin an easing cycle with a 50 basis-point rate cut next month.
Lower interest rates support risk-on assets like crypto by making capital cheaper and pushing investors away from bonds and toward higher-yielding alternatives.
Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency that’s benefitting from these drivers. Ethereum is also up this week. It reaching $4,788 on Wednesday, just $100 shy of its all-time high set back in 2021.
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin is up 1.5% over the past 24 hours to trade at $121,765.
- Ethereum is up 2.3% to trade at $4,734.
What we’re reading
Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email at lance@dlnews.com.
