Bitcoin Momentum Pauses After Historic Rally, But Investors Eye $100K Milestone
2024-11-12

The crypto market took a breather on Tuesday, with Bitcoin easing by about 1% to $87,440.88, following its explosive rally last week after Donald Trump secured the U.S. presidency. Investors are anticipating another surge, with many setting their sights on Bitcoin crossing the $100,000 mark by year-end. Yesterday, Bitcoin hit a peak of $89,623, according to CryptoCompare data.
Since the U.S. presidential election on November 5, Bitcoin has climbed over 26%, breaking through previous records and entering price discovery mode. According to analysts, this rally is driven by optimism surrounding a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment. Trump’s promises of clearer rules have sparked enthusiasm among investors who have long faced ambiguity in the sector. 
Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Management, told CNBC that the shift toward a positive regulatory climate, coupled with an already bullish market, is likely to sustain upward momentum. 
Mike Colonnese, an analyst at H.C. Wainwright, emphasized the bullish sentiment, expecting Bitcoin to potentially reach six figures by the end of the year. Ether, which also saw significant gains over the past week, was down 3% today after a 33% rally since the election.
Meanwhile, the broader crypto market, including coins like Shiba Inu, has also seen corrections. Shiba Inu dipped by 4% after a massive 57% surge over the past week. Dogecoin, however, remained an outlier, skyrocketing by over 135% since November 5, fueled by its connection to Elon Musk, a key figure in Trump’s re-election campaign.
On social media platform X, influential voices in the crypto space shared milestones. Long-time Bitcoin advocate Tuur Demeester announced that Bitcoin had overtaken silver in market capitalization:
Historic moment: bitcoin's market cap just exceeded that of all the aboveground silver, the noble metal used as money for over 4,000 years. pic.twitter.com/4rw3wibXYP
This was further echoed by popular crypto market commentary show COin Bureau, which pointed out that Bitcoin has now become the 8th most valuable asset in the world by market cap:
Breaking: Bitcoin has just flipped silver in market cap. 
It's now the 8th most valuable asset in the world by market cap pic.twitter.com/OvidNi0rSE
Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital, added that November 11 marked the largest single-day gain in Bitcoin’s history, underscoring the strength of this new market cycle. 
here’s the list ranked by daily % move
number 1 biggest move in dollars, 49th biggest move by percentage pic.twitter.com/cjcslQstr8
Despite the temporary pause in gains today, market observers believe that Bitcoin’s upward trajectory is far from over, with a substantial air gap between its previous highs of $72,000 and the anticipated $100,000 milestone. The Bitwise CIO said to CNBC that while pullbacks are possible, the overall bias remains bullish in this new cycle:
“It does seem like there’s an air gap between the previous [bitcoin] all-time highs around $72,000 and $100,000. It’s hard exactly to see what would force sellers to come into this market and halt the momentum before we get to that level. Of course, there are no guarantees. You could see pullbacks, but we’re in a new crypto market cycle. … I do think that we are right to be bullish and the bias is still on the upside.“
At the time of writing (12:55 p.m. UTC on November 12), BTC is trading at around $85,633, down 4.6% in the past 24-hour period.
Featured Image via Pixabay