Will the bitcoin price exceed USD 100,000 today? Ether is back in the game!

Will the bitcoin price finally break the USD 100,000 barrier? Yesterday was close. In the background, there is a revival on the Ethereum market: ether, which has been dormant for a long time, is becoming more expensive than salt and bitcoin.

Bitcoin price and the fight for USD 100,000

The Bitcoin price fought another battle yesterday. The stakes are very high: breaking $100,000! It was close because the price was at USD 97,208. But then there was a decline. Today the price is at approximately USD 95,500, which means a jump of 2.6% per day and a decline of 1.5% in 7 days.

Bitcoin capital flows today, among others: to ether, which could make it difficult to break through $100,000. The Ethereum cryptocurrency, which remained dormant for weeks and was therefore written off by investors, is now starting to triumph again. One ether costs USD 3,068, which means that this value has increased by 5% per day and by 15% per week.

The situation on the ETH/BTC market also looks very good. The pair was at 0.038.

There was a significant decline on the SOL/ETH chart, which clearly shows how the market sentiment has changed. Just a month ago, the narrative that SOL would overtake ETH in terms of capitalization dominated social media. Today, the narrative that Solana is a blockchain used to mint memecoins, not to build serious projects (as opposed to Ethereum), is starting to dominate again.

Is the altcoin season starting?

There are many indications that the season for altcoins is slowly starting, i.e. the time when “altcoins” become more expensive than bitcoin, and capital flows from the latter to the field of alternative cryptocurrencies. This may mean that it is worth slowly “moving” from BTC to other projects.

The text does not constitute investment advice – you invest at your own risk.

I also asked Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research, for his opinion:

The results of BTC and ETH in December may be influenced primarily by several key factors.

• Both BTC and ETH ETF inflows have shown significant growth. BTC ETFs saw net inflows of $5.6 billion in November, while ETH ETFs saw a one-day gain of $300 million, a historic record. ETH ETFs, in particular, moved from net outflows to net inflows in November, signaling growing interest in traditional finance in the Ethereum ecosystem.
• In the secondary market, ETH has recently experienced further price increases. However, 1-day options implied volatility remained stable, indicating that the recent break above $3,600 was driven by spot accumulation rather than speculative activity. This trend suggests that ETH may continue to rise and the ETH/BTC exchange rate, which is showing signs of falling and rebounding, is worth monitoring.
• Sustained net inflows of stablecoins are providing liquidity to the cryptocurrency market. Data from DeFiLlama shows stablecoins added $20 billion in value in November, supporting the broader market. This inflow trend is unlikely to reverse in the short term, suggesting market momentum will continue.

Several events could also have a significant impact on BTC and ETH.

• Microsoft is reportedly considering purchasing BTC, and if this proposal is approved by its board, it could become a major growth catalyst for the market.
• A platform for issuing memecoins, Clanker, has recently appeared on the Base portal. If Clanker generates several popular memecoins, it could spur activity in the Ethereum ecosystem, increasing demand for ETH.
• Another key factor is the upcoming January 20 departure of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. A potential successor, Paul Atkins, is considered to be supportive of cryptocurrencies and friendly to the Ethereum ecosystem and DeFi systems, which could have a positive impact on the market.

Based on these factors, BTC is expected to trade between $85,000 and $120,000 in December, while ETH is expected to trade between $3,000 and $4,500, with a confidence interval of 70%. According to the options market, there is an 11.1% chance of ETH surpassing its previous high of $4,900 in December, reflecting low expectations for a breakout. However, renewed activity and increased capital flow in the Ethereum ecosystem could lead to sustained growth and potentially a new high.