Bitcoin preserved $98,000 on Feb. 21 as bulls saw their highest daily close in nearly three weeks.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Bitcoin trader expects return of six figures
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD building on gains after the previous daily candle closed at $98,330 on Bitstamp.
While still in a narrow range, Bitcoin (BTC) price action provided much-needed relief to traders after several weeks of barely any volatility.
US macro data aided the recovery, with initial jobless claims exceeding the median forecast by 4,000 to reach 219,000, a potential sign that the labor market may not withstand longer periods of restrictive economic policy.
The latest estimates from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool nonetheless continued to display practically zero likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates at its next meeting in March.
Fed target rate probabilities. Source: CME Group
Analyzing medium timeframes on BTC/USD, trader Patric H. said flipping $100,000 to support was one of the essential next moves.
A chart uploaded to X showed two descending trend lines in need of being breached.
“Waiting for a move in either direction,” he said in a subsequent commentary.
BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Patric H/X
Fellow trader Roman described $98,400 as a “pivot point” that should spark $10,000 of upside if price passes it.
“Break 98.4k and my guess is 108 is next,” the trader said in an X post the prior day.
“Really liking how volume is trending lower as price went down during this range. Let's hope for a breakout!”
BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Roman/X
BTC price all-time high missing from risk-asset race
Bitcoin thus joined gold and stocks as a rising risk-asset tide took markets higher.
Related: Bitcoin bull market can survive $77K BTC price dip in 2025 — Analyst
New record highs for both gold and the S&P 500 this week further underscored crypto markets’ need to recover hefty Q1 losses.
“In fact, gold has more than DOUBLED the S&P 500’s YTD return. In 2024, gold and the S&P 500 had an unprecedented correlation of ~0.81,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted in an X thread.
Gold futures vs. S&P 500 chart. Source: The Kobeissi Letter/X
Gold’s market cap crossed $20 trillion for the first time in history, but Bitcoin proponents were little impressed.
“Gold is at a new all-time high! Congratulations to everyone who has invested in gold these past five years! You have almost doubled your money in that time!” network economist Timothy Peterson, author of the popular paper “Metcalfe’s Law as a Model for Bitcoin’s Value,” said on X.
“On average, Bitcoin doubled every 16 months.”
Bitcoin vs. gold chart. Source: Timothy Peterson/X
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.