Key Points
- Bitcoin price aims towards $118K amid increased interest from institutional investors.
- US spot Bitcoin ETF issuers registered a net cash inflow of $755 million, signaling rising demand.
Bitcoin’s price showed bullish signs earlier this week, teasing a $100K mark in the past 24 hours before settling around $99.7K on Thursday, January 16th. The previous fear of a crypto selloff has significantly reduced, with Bitcoin’s fear and greed index surging to 75 percent.
The altcoin industry, led by Ripple Labs’ XRP, followed suit, leading the total crypto market cap to surpass the market valuation of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL).
Institutional Investment and Bitcoin
The recent Bitcoin price rebound is heavily influenced by the rising demand from large-scale and institutional investors, led by the US spot BTC ETF issuers. Market data shows that the US spot BTC ETF issuers registered a net cash inflow of about $755 million.
Fidelity’s FBTC led in net cash inflows on Wednesday with about $463 million, closely followed by Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) with a net cash inflow of about $138 million. BlackRock’s IBIT registered a net cash inflow of about $31 million.
Notably, none of the US spot Bitcoin ETF issuers registered a net cash outflow on Wednesday, signaling the rising demand from institutional investors. As a result, the US spot Bitcoin ETF issuers ended a four-day consecutive cash outflow.
Bitcoin and the Market
The ongoing Bitcoin price rebound is heavily influenced by renewed interest from institutional investors and retail traders ahead of the 2nd inauguration of Donald Trump. Moreover, the implementation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve at the state and federal levels has gained significant traction.
Regulators in Oklahoma and Texas have already proposed a strategic Bitcoin reserve to hedge against global inflation. At the federal level, President-elect Donald Trump announced that his upcoming administration is planning for immediate friendlier SEC rules, clearer token guidelines, and fewer legal restrictions.
This announcement follows the inflation data, which suggested a cooling effect that could yield a Fed rate cut later this month.
From a technical analysis standpoint, Bitcoin price is well positioned to reach a new all-time high in the near term, catalyzed by renewed interest from large-scale investors. Furthermore, the bullish sentiment was confirmed after the Bitcoin price rebounded strongly from the support level of around $90 earlier this week.
Crypto trader Alan Santana suggests that if Bitcoin price consistently closes above the upper boundary of between $100K and $108K, the next psychological target is around $118,762.
