Bitcoin Price Almost Hits $98,000: Key Reasons Behind The Rally

Bitcoin has reached a new all-time high, surging to $97,852 on Binance. The cryptocurrency is up 5% in the last 24 hours and has gained an impressive 43% over the past 16 days since November 5. The momentum shows no signs of slowing as BTC price continues its steady ascent. Several key factors are driving this remarkable rally:

#1 US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Trade

Following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, market sentiment has shifted significantly. The initial “Trump trade” has evolved into the “US Bitcoin Reserve Trade,” fueled by speculation that President-elect Trump may establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). This follows his pledge at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.

Industry insiders like David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc and a Trump campaign advisor, and Dennis Porter, CEO of Satoshi Act Fund, have hinted at the possibility of the SBR becoming a reality. Both have urged that the SBR be established within the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency through an executive order. They warn of the United States potentially falling behind in the global race to accumulate BTC.

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Bailey revealed on November 9, “There is at least one nation-state that has been actively acquiring Bitcoin and is now a top 5 holder. Hopefully, we hear from them soon.” He emphasized his certainty with a meme, indicating his information is based on knowledge rather than speculation. Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, confirmed in a recent interview with Bloomberg TV that “countries are already buying BTC in huge volumes.”

The “US Bitcoin Reserve Trade” is expected to continue until Trump’s inauguration on January 20. It remains to be seen whether Trump will follow through on his promises, potentially moving over 208,000 BTC confiscated by law enforcement into the reserve or even adopting Senator Cynthia Lummis’ Bitcoin Act proposal to purchase 1 million BTC over five years.

#2 Potential Appointment Of A ‘Crypto Czar’

A leak on Wednesday suggests that President-elect Trump’s team is in discussions about creating a new White House position dedicated solely to Bitcoin and crypto policy. Sources familiar with the transition efforts indicate that candidates are being vetted for this role.

If established, it would be the first-ever Bitcoin and crypto-specific White House position, underscoring the influence the nascent industry stands to wield in the incoming administration. It is unclear whether the role will be a senior White House staff position or a “crypto czar” overseeing policy and regulation across the federal government. Crypto industry advocates are pushing for the role to have a direct line to Trump – a massive news for the entire industry.

#3 Launch Of Bitcoin ETF Options

The introduction of Bitcoin ETF options has had a significant impact on the market. BlackRock’s iShares BTC Trust (IBIT) ETF options, launched on November 19, 2024, saw an unprecedented $1.9 billion in notional exposure on their first day of trading. Bloomberg ETF expert James Seyffart stated, “Final tally of IBIT’s 1st day of options is just shy of $1.9 billion in notional exposure traded via 354k contracts. 289k were Calls & 65k were Puts. That’s a ratio of 4.4:1. These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new Bitcoin all-time highs today.”

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Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies at Bitwise Invest, recently highlighted the game-changing nature of Bitcoin ETF options:

With the approval by the SEC to list and trade Bitcoin ETF options, we are on the verge of witnessing the most extraordinary upside ‘vol’ of ‘vol’ in financial history. For the first time, Bitcoin’s notional value will be ‘fractionally banked’ with ETF options. This marks the most monumental advancement possible for the crypto market.

Park explained that Bitcoin ETF options provide a regulated market where the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) protects clearing members from counterparty risks, allowing Bitcoin’s synthetic notional exposure to grow exponentially. He emphasized that this could lead to an explosive recursive effect on Bitcoin’s price due to unique volatility characteristics and the “volatility smile.”

If there were one thing to read today re the game-changing nature of Bitcoin ETF options, read (and bookmark) this one for 2025 – it’s going to be wild. pic.twitter.com/On2DmUsbHX

— Jeff Park (@dgt10011) September 20, 2024

#4 Surge In Spot Market And Bitcoin ETFs

The latest rally has also been driven by significant activity in the spot market. Heavy spot bids have propelled the price higher, with yesterday’s BTC ETF inflows being a crucial factor. Inflows amounted to $773.4 million, with BlackRock contributing $626.5 million, Fidelity $133.9 million, Bitwise $9.2 million, and ARK Invest $3.8 million. Over the past three days, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have purchased a staggering $1.856 billion worth of Bitcoin.

Good morning,

Yesterday’s Bitcoin ETF flows were positive for $773.4 million.

Blackrock did $626.5 million, Fidelity $133.9 million. (BTC the mini-ETF is still missing data)

Price slowly climbing higher from $92K up to $97k now.
Shitcoins are getting slaughtered.

source:… pic.twitter.com/WMYIj7WiYj

— WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) November 21, 2024

The total net asset value of US Bitcoin spot ETFs has exceeded $100 billion. Twelve Bitcoin ETFs, including those from BlackRock and Fidelity, were issued in January and have reached this milestone in just ten months.

At press time, BTC traded at $96,920.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com