Despite recent market shakeouts, Bitcoin (BTC) has maintained its strength, hovering near the crucial $100,000 mark. While the flagship cryptocurrency is currently expected to continue its sideways movement, some analysts predict that BTC's next upward surge could begin once it reclaims the recently lost key level.
Following the post-election rally in December, which saw Bitcoin cross the $100,000 barrier for the first time, reaching $108,000 on December 15, the market has experienced several significant corrections. Bitcoin's price has retraced 14% from its December peak, falling to the lower end of its $90,000-$108,000 post-election range.
In early January, BTC experienced a similar pullback after regaining the $100,000 mark, dropping nearly 13% before rebounding. Mid-month, Bitcoin retraced another 10% after hitting its latest all-time high (ATH) of $109,588 on January 15, but managed to hold the $100,000 level in the subsequent days.
The most recent correction, which began on February 17, saw BTC fall 14% from its Friday high of $106,000 and nearly 10% in 24 hours, triggering the largest single-day crypto liquidations. Despite these retraces, Bitcoin has rebounded from the local lows and continues to trade within the mid-zone of its post-election range.
Market observer Daan Crypto Trades noted that BTC's volatility has been "relatively low" in recent weeks, particularly compared to the start of 2024. The cryptocurrency experienced more violent swings when Bitcoin surpassed the $70,000 region in March, retracing up to 20% during these corrections. Since then, Volatility has "slowly dwindled" while Bitcoin's price has been "creeping higher this cycle."
Bitfinex analysts previously attributed the diminishing trend to the cycle's "unique" conditions. According to their report, mainstream recognition, institutional adoption, and increasing confidence in the sector have kept BTC's corrections smaller than past cycles, a trend likely to continue for the remainder of the bull run.
As BTC's price continues to move sideways within its range, the flagship crypto appears "much stronger" than most of the market, "still looking perfectly fine when zooming out." Daan added that "the demand for BTC is just so much higher compared to the rest of the market, especially during times of uncertainty."
However, crypto analyst Miles Deutscher highlighted that BTC's search interest "is still sitting way below 2021 levels, despite sitting just under $100k." This suggests that institutions are fueling the Bitcoin bull run while it is "no longer reliant on retail mania to pump BTC prices."
Meanwhile, crypto analyst Jelle observed that Bitcoin is playing out similarly to Q1 2024, citing the "choppy" period, liquidity being withdrawn, and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) retests as "flashing" signals once again. This performance preceded the flagship crypto's breakout to its March 2024 ATH and, if history repeats, could signal a price takeoff soon. Nonetheless, Jelle added that $100,000 remains the level to break and hold before any major price move.