Bitcoin price and new ATH. Is there another wave of growth ahead of us?

The Bitcoin price reached a new record high overnight. What’s behind this jump?

Bitcoin price again at a new record level

Bitcoin is slowly getting us used to the fact that it registers new ATH on the chart every few days. During the night, the price was just over USD 106,600, which marked a new price record in the history of the cryptocurrency.

Currently, the price for BTC is USD 105,112, which means a price increase of 3.2% since yesterday and 5.3% in 7 days. Ether, in turn, costs USD 3,973, which translates into a jump of 3.4% since yesterday and 1.2% for the week.

What is driving the growth?

But what is driving the growth? Actually, it’s hard to think of just one factor. First of all, cyclicality indicates that December in the halving year is a very good period for bitcoin and the last month before a strong altcoin season. Additionally, in the USA you can observe news that may strengthen the valuation of BTC. Donald Trump will formally become president in January 2025, but he has already announced, for example, the nomination of Paul Atkins as the new head of the SEC. This is a pro-cryptocurrency official who may pursue a policy completely different from Gary Gensler.

More and more facts indicate that Trump will also try to create a strategic bitcoin reserve, which will certainly drive demand for BTC. And on an unprecedented scale.

First of all, we have another meeting of the Fed authorities ahead of us. On December 18, the central bank authorities are to decide what to do with interest rates. There are many indications that there will be no surprise and on Wednesday they will cut rates again by another 25 basis points.

In the background, we are also observing large inflows into BTC ETFs, which shows that clients of asset managers are still entering the bitcoin trading floor.

However, another indicator may be disturbing – the Bitcoin fear and greed index, which is at the level of extreme greed, which in turn may mean that a deeper correction is ahead of us, cooling the mood.

Forecasts for the coming days were presented to us by Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research:

• Interest Rates Meeting: The results of the last US interest rate meeting this year will be announced next Wednesday. According to current CME data, there is a 96% probability that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points, lowering the federal base rate to 4.25%-4.5%. An interest rate cut would benefit risk markets, including cryptocurrencies, but the market may become risk averse until results are released. Monitoring overall leverage positioning is critical to avoiding extreme liquidation events.
• Impact of the Holiday Season: As Christmas approaches, activity in the capital market, including cryptocurrency markets, is likely to decline. Reduced trading volumes and lower efficiency of fund circulation may lead to local liquidity shortages.
• BTC and ETH inflows and outflows: It is important to monitor whether net inflows into BTC and ETH ETFs continue. A temporary decline in inflows is expected during the first few trading days this week, although the broader trend remains positive.

Overall, the forecast price ranges for BTC and ETH this week are $96,000-$1,115,000 and $3,600-$4,200, respectively. Stablecoins continue to show net inflows and maintain high liquidity. Altcoins, which experienced significant price fluctuations last week, are expected to see a rebound this week.