Compiled by: Felix, PANews

Driven by positive factors such as institutional capital inflows and improved macroeconomic conditions, Bitcoin broke through the $110,000 mark for the first time this morning, reaching a historical high. According to Coingecko data, Bitcoin rose 3.5% in 24 hours and is now trading at $110,505.

Institutional buying and other factors drive new highs

Min Jung, an analyst at Presto Research, said: "Bitcoin's breakthrough of the $110,000 mark was mainly due to buying by companies such as Strategy, Metaplanet and Twenty One Capital. Unlike previous bull markets, this rebound seems to be driven by institutional and long-term capital rather than retail speculation."

Strategy has led institutional investors in buying cryptocurrencies, recently announcing the purchase of 7,390 bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to 576,230 bitcoins. Strive Enterprises, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, also plans to build a bitcoin vault using 75,000 bitcoins (worth $8.2 billion) from Mt. Gox's assets.

Roshan Robert, CEO of OKX's US division, said Bitcoin's latest round of gains was supported by a combination of factors, including not only corporate reserve strategies but also surging ETF inflows.

According to SoSoValue data, the net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs this week has exceeded $1.5 billion. Among them, a total of $996 million flowed in on May 19 and 20; on May 21, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net inflow of $609 million, showing a net inflow trend for the sixth consecutive day. The total assets of Bitcoin ETFs are now $129.015 billion, accounting for 6% of the BTC market value.

Will Bitcoin’s new high lay the foundation for altcoins to strengthen again?

In response, Mena Theodorou, co-founder of Australian exchange Coinstash, said that given that Bitcoin is currently in the price discovery phase, a broader rebound in altcoins is unlikely in the short term.

Analyst Reece Hobson also said, "When two key events occur at the same time, the season of altcoins will kick off. Quantitative easing policies must be initiated to inject more liquidity into the system; Bitcoin's dominance must reach around 70%." Bitcoin's dominance currently hovers around 63%.

Bold predictions for subsequent prices

Although Bitcoin’s breakthrough to a new high has caused a lot of discussion, it may not be “surprising”. Many well-known figures in the crypto field have predicted that Bitcoin will rise sharply in 2025.

Standard Chartered Bank: $200,000 this year

Geoffrey Kendrick, head of the digital asset research team at Standard Chartered Bank in the UK, has said many times before that despite the impact of Trump's tariffs and other geopolitical factors, American investors still want to acquire non-sovereign assets, and the price of Bitcoin will soar this year, and predicts that it will reach a high of $200,000 by the end of 2025. "We expect that the strategic reallocation of US assets in the coming months will trigger the next round of sharp increases in Bitcoin prices."

The outlook for the next few years is even more optimistic: by early 2029, when President Trump leaves office, the price of each Bitcoin will reach $500,000.

Bernstein: This bull market reaches $200,000

Investment firm Bernstein has also bet on new highs for Bitcoin prices. Bernstein analysts predicted in 2024 and this year that Bitcoin will reach $200,000 by 2025.

Tim Draper: $250,000 this year

The Silicon Valley venture capitalist and founder of Draper Associates said earlier this month that he believes the price of Bitcoin will reach $250,000 by the end of 2025.

Arthur Hayes: $150,000 this year

Similar to Standard Chartered Bank, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes believes that investors will want to sell U.S. assets. "Bitcoin is the perfect and only lifeboat for global capital that must leave the United States and other regions," and predicts that the price of Bitcoin will reach a high of $150,000 this year.

Blockstream CEO Adam Back: This round of cycle reaches 500,000-1 million US dollars

In an interview last week, Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and Bitcoin legend, predicted that the price of Bitcoin will reach $500,000 to $1 million in this cycle. He said that considering the participation of institutional investors, the price of Bitcoin is surprisingly low after last year's halving. "I think if the price of Bitcoin hits a record high, it may rise sharply soon."

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: It will eventually reach $700,000

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, who has helped institutional investors buy bitcoin and launched the popular iShares Bitcoin Trust, said the price of bitcoin could eventually reach $700,000.

In January, Larry Fink spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos and said that if institutions such as sovereign wealth funds continue to allocate even a small amount to Bitcoin, its price will soar. But then added that being bullish on Bitcoin is not about promoting it.

Brian Armstrong: Millions of dollars at some point in the future

Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, predicted in January that bitcoin would be worth "millions of dollars" at some point in the future, but said bitcoin still has a long way to go to reach those high prices.

Other indicators remain low

It’s worth noting that despite Bitcoin’s record high of $110,000, other measures of the network’s health are near all-time lows.

The average transaction confirmation time for Bitcoin this month is less than 50 minutes, with many days below 20 minutes. Bitcoin's hash rate distribution is also at a low level in terms of decentralization. In the past year, most of Bitcoin's blocks were mined by four mining pools. Although individual miners can switch mining pools freely, the centralization of mining pools still lags significantly behind the goal of true decentralization.

Average transaction fees are also near all-time lows. On several days this month, the average transaction fee was less than $1. In comparison, at one point, the transaction fee was over $127.

Miner revenue as a percentage of transaction volume has also trended below 1%, suggesting that miner profitability is still primarily dependent on the Coinbase block subsidy rather than user demand for block space.

Although the market is gradually moving towards prosperity, João Wedson, CEO of Alphractal, advises investors to remain cautious and patient. The BTC heat map shows that the price is moving towards the high leverage area, indicating that market makers may liquidate overconfident traders. Therefore, risk management is crucial.

Related reading: From two pizzas to $100,000 per coin, here are 27 key figures in Bitcoin’s 16-year rise