Bitcoin is still leading the cryptocurrency market, holding a strong 56% market share. The global market cap has climbed to $3.8 trillion. This rally is driven by institutional interest and positive regulatory news. Recently, Bitcoin hit a significant milestone, crossing the $100,000 mark for the first time.
According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin (BTC) peaked at $103,000 late Wednesday. This represents a remarkable 120% increase from the beginning of the year when its price was just above $44,000. With a market cap over $2 trillion, Bitcoin ranks as the 7th largest asset globally, as reported by Companies Market Cap.
The gap between Bitcoin’s market cap and that of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is now quite narrow. Alphabet's market cap stands at $2.1 trillion. Other major assets include Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and gold.
Aurelie Barthere, a Principal Research Analyst at Nansen, shared her insights: “Bitcoin breaking the $100,000 mark is supported by high volumes and shallow post-election corrections. December’s positive seasonality should help prevent significant corrections for now. Buyers are dominating sellers in a ‘buy-the-dip’ mentality.”
This surge in price aligns with growing optimism around U.S. regulatory changes, especially with the nomination of Paul Atkins as the next SEC chair by President-elect Donald Trump. Barthere noted, “We flagged this as one of the positive news flows expected for crypto.”
Bitcoin’s dominance at 56% shows its ongoing leadership in the market, even as meme coins gain traction. Dogecoin (DOGE) led the charge among meme coins with a 6.7% increase to $0.44. Other coins like Pepe (PEPE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) also saw gains of 4.7% and 4.5%, respectively, according to CoinGecko data.
Arthur Azizov, CEO of B2BINPAY, explained that Bitcoin's dominance is crucial for market momentum. He stated, “The announcement of pro-crypto Paul Atkins as SEC Chairman allowed Bitcoin to break the psychological barrier of $100,000, setting a new all-time high above $104,000. Since November 5, its value has surged by an impressive 54%.”
Institutional investors have played a significant role in driving Bitcoin's price up. Recently, ETFs recorded over $1 billion in inflows. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has surpassed $50 billion in assets under management, achieving this milestone more than five times faster than any other ETF in history.
Azizov noted that while Bitcoin hasn’t faced a major correction yet, a pullback is likely. “It’s reasonable to conclude that a pullback is imminent—it’s just a matter of time,” he said. “By year-end, I believe Bitcoin’s price will stabilize around $100,000 before retracing to five-digit levels.”
In other news, the Bitcoin Ordinals startup, OrdinalsBot, and Project Spartacus are reigniting efforts to inscribe the Afghan War Diary on the Bitcoin blockchain. This initiative aims to preserve the War Logs for future generations. Gabriel Shipton, chairman of the Assange Campaign, emphasized the importance of this preservation effort.
PancakeSwap has launched SpringBoard, a new platform for launching tokens. This “all-in-one” platform enables developers and projects to create and launch their tokens on BNB Chain PancakeSwap without any coding. Whether it’s a meme coin or a DeFi project, SpringBoard simplifies the process significantly.
Lastly, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently compared Bitcoin to gold, stating, “Bitcoin is not a competitor for the dollar; it’s really a competitor for gold.” He shared these thoughts during an interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit.