Bitcoin Price Forecast: BTC eyes $100K, what are the key factors to watch out for?

Bitcoin price today: $88,000

• Bitcoin dips below $90K as investors bagged nearly $8 billion in profits in the past 48 hours.
• Bitwise's Matt Hougan noted that increased demand for Bitcoin among investors and central banks is needed to claim the $100K level.
• The increase in stablecoin supply shows that new money is fueling BTC's rise.
• Bitcoin could rally above $130,000 after completing an inverted head and shoulders move.

Bitcoin trades below $90K in the early Asian session on Friday as investors realized nearly $8 billion in profits in the past two days. Despite the profit-taking, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan suggested that BTC could be ready for the $100K level, fueled by increased stablecoin supply and potential government investment.

Bitcoin drops slightly below $90K, increased stablecoin supply could fuel demand

Bitcoin all-time high of $93,477 on Wednesday, prompted investors to book profits after its 25% rise in the past two weeks. According to Santiment data, investors realized profits of nearly $8 billion in the past 48 hours — the highest since October 9.

BTC Network Realized Profit/Loss | Santiment

According to CryptoQuant data, large-scale miners realized the most profits as they potentially sold portions of their holdings.

"Bitcoin miners are transferring Bitcoin out of their wallets as prices reached $90K+. An extreme miner outflow (25k Bitcoin) happened yesterday," said CryptoQuant's Head of Research, Julio Moreno.

Despite miners' profit-taking, Bitcoin futures contracts among centralized exchanges surged as futures trading volumes hit $129 billion. This suggests increased activity among traders — especially with the BTC/USDT pair — which may lead to heavy price volatility.

However, Bitcoin remains within reach of the $100K price level as analysts anticipate newer all-time highs in this cycle.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated that for Bitcoin to break the $100K price range, it would require more demand from investors and central banks. He further highlighted the possibility of Bitcoin hitting $500K if the asset gains maturity.

"In my view, $500K per coin is the correct demarcation between early and late, for a very simple reason: It marks the point where bitcoin would be mature," said Hougan.

He noted that Bitcoin potentially hitting the $500K price would strongly depend on the asset "eating" into gold's market share if governments hold it as a reserve fund.

Likewise, VanEck's head of digital assets research, Mathew Sigel, noted in an interview that the presidential election result was the major reason for the Bitcoin rally. 

He also compared the recurring all-time high prices with data from the 2020 post-election results, which saw Bitcoin hit about six all-time highs that cycle.

Additionally, stablecoin supply skyrocketed in the past week as Tether has minted over 7 billion USDT on the Ethereum blockchain since August 5. Historically, rising stablecoin supply often leads to higher prices in crypto assets as dollar liquidity increases to fuel more demand.

USDT ERC-20 Exchange Reserve | CryptoQuant

Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $509.4 million on Wednesday, per Coinglass data.

Bitcoin Price Forecast: BTC could rally to $130,000 by completing key pattern

Bitcoin trades near $88,000 after sustaining $100.86 million in liquidations within the past 24 hours. Liquidated long and short positions accounted for $66.38 million and $34.47 million, respectively.

On the weekly chart, BTC completed an inverted head-and-shoulders pattern after rallying above its neckline resistance last week. If the pattern develops, Bitcoin could rally toward the $130,000 psychological level.

BTC/USDT weekly chart

The 14-week RSI is slightly in the overbought region, indicating that a potential pullback may occur.

A daily candlestick close below $73,777 will invalidate the bullish thesis.