Bitcoin price surged to a two-month high near $96,500 earlier today, buoyed by a wave of fresh macro catalysts, before settling above the $95,000 level.
Market-wide gains followed, with the total crypto market cap climbing more than 4% at one point to reclaim the $3.3 trillion mark.
Risk appetite saw a significant rebound over the past 24 hours, driven by several bullish developments out of the United States.
The crypto fear and greed index responded sharply, rising 11 points to reach the upper edge of neutral territory.
By late Asian trading hours on Wednesday, the altcoin market was firmly in the green, with the vast majority of the top 99 tokens posting profits.
Why is Bitcoin price up today?
Bitcoin and the broader crypto market’s rally today has been supported by a number of catalysts.
One primary driver is the recent release of mixed macroeconomic data from the United States.
A labour report on Friday indicated a significant cooling in the job market, with only 50,000 positions added, even as the unemployment rate settled at 4.4%.
This was followed by Tuesday’s inflation data, which showed core consumer prices softening from 2.7% in November to 2.6% in December, and this downward trend is fostering a belief that the Federal Reserve may finally have the room to begin cutting interest rates later this year.
The political landscape is also playing a major role as Donald Trump prioritises affordability ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Investors view this focus on lowering prices and loosening the labour market as a clear signal for a more accommodative monetary environment.
Optimism is further fueled by a changing regulatory climate in Washington.
The Senate recently released the formal text of the CLARITY Act, with a key committee markup scheduled for Thursday.
There is growing confidence that this bill could follow in the footsteps of the GENIUS Act to become the next major piece of crypto legislation.
Such a move would provide the industry with long-awaited legal structure and move the US closer to its goal of becoming a global digital asset hub.
Market participants are also keeping a close eye on an impending ruling regarding Donald Trump’s tariffs, expected later today.
Sentiment on this front has shifted significantly; Kalshi prediction markets now show the odds of the tariffs being upheld have fallen to 33.8%, down from a high of 56% last September.
A decision to strike down these tariffs is widely viewed as a bullish signal for crypto, as it would likely reduce import costs and further dampen inflationary pressures.
The resulting price action has triggered a massive short squeeze.
As Bitcoin reclaimed the $94,500 level, a resistance point that has held firm since early December, the sudden breakout forced over $688 million in liquidations across the market within 24 hours.
Of that total, roughly $292 million came from Bitcoin traders alone, which provided the necessary liquidity to propel the price firmly above $95,000, turning a previous ceiling into a new floor.
Finally, a resurgence in institutional demand is providing a solid foundation for these gains.
On January 13, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a massive $754 million in net inflows, signalling that large-scale investors are re-entering the market with conviction.
Other large-cap assets also benefited from the trend, with Solana and XRP-linked ETFs drawing in $5.91 million and $12.98 million, respectively.
Will Bitcoin price go up?
As gold and equities continued to rally to new highs, Bitcoin appears to be regaining lost ground after months of lagging.
S&P 500 futures notched fresh records ahead of Tuesday’s US session, while gold extended its climb to reach $4,639 per ounce.
With traditional markets on a strong upward trajectory, attention is now shifting to whether Bitcoin can sustain its latest push and catch up to the broader risk-asset rally.
According to market intelligence firm QCP Capital, Bitcoin has finally breached the $95,000 resistance zone that had suppressed upward momentum since November.
“Bitcoin has been lagging behind the equity market and precious metal rally, but it has finally pushed through the $95k level,” QCP analysts noted in their latest market update.
The firm also pointed to growing concerns over potential fiat currency debasement in the United States, which it says has been a key driver behind the recent rise in precious metals.
“The relative cheapness of Bitcoin compared to gold at this point may spur a rotation to digital assets,” QCP added, suggesting that the macro environment could push investors toward crypto as an inflation hedge.
From a technical analysis standpoint, trader Jelle flagged a significant breakout, identifying a major move out of a descending triangle pattern that had been forming since mid-November. (See below.)
This type of breakout is often interpreted as a bullish shift in trend, especially when paired with strong volume and broader market momentum.
While questions remain about potential overhead resistance and how far the rally might extend, sentiment has clearly shifted.
Meanwhile, fellow analyst Ted Pillows came in with an equally optimistic projection eyeing a rally towards $100,000, if Bitcoin manages to hold above the lower trendline of the aforementioned pattern.
A classic $BTC breakout.
Hold the breakout trendline, and $100,000 could happen this month.
While market euphoria began to set in for many, a segment of analysts remained notably cautious about the sustainability of the rally.
Among those preaching restraint was Trader CrypNeuvo, who warned that Bitcoin is fast approaching a critical technical hurdle.
He noted that the 50-week exponential moving average (EMA) currently sits near $97,650, a level that could trigger a significant resistance battle and potentially stall the upward momentum if bulls fail to clear it.
“This could be a liquidity run towards the 1W50EMA where price could be rejected from,” he warned about the latest gains.
However, a break above $100k would invalidate this bearish scenario, the analyst added.
When writing, the Bitcoin price was trading roughly 3% below the $100k mark.
Top altcoin gainers for the day
In the past 24 hours, the altcoin market cap initially rose from $1.23 trillion to $1.35 trillion before settling at around $1.31 trillion, still up 2.5% over the day.
Ethereum (ETH), rose nearly 7% to $3,350, while other large-cap cryptocurrencies such as XRP (XRP), BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) saw modest gains ranging between 4-6%.
Most of the other large-cap crypto assets by market cap were trading in the green with only a handful recording losses as of press time.
Dash (DASH) led the altcoin market with a 28.7% surge as a sector-wide rally in privacy coins gained momentum, driven by a rotation of capital into anonymity-focused protocols following the implementation of the DAC8 directive and the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework that went live earlier this month.
At the same time, many analysts have highlighted that the altcoin has broken out of a bullish reversal pattern, which has historically acted as a precursor to additional gains.
nternet Computer (ICP) and Story Protocol (IP) followed the lead of the top performers, securing gains of 19% and 11% respectively.
This upward move coincided with the US CFTC’s announcement on Monday regarding the formation of a new Innovation Advisory Committee, which is tasked with refining the regulatory framework for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain.
Investors are increasingly viewing these two projects as primary beneficiaries of this regulatory focus, given their central roles in the burgeoning AI-on-chain and decentralized intellectual property sectors.
Source: CoinMarketCap
The post Bitcoin price breaks $95K resistance on macro tailwinds, DASH, ICP rally over 20% appeared first on Invezz
