Bitcoin is trading above $9,500 and several factors could provide the impetus for a further climb to $10k
Bitcoin price is up by more than $400 since a mid-week spike took the top cryptocurrency above $9,600.
The breakout meant Bitcoin’s price had for the first time in nearly a month broken out of its Bollinger Bands squeeze.
Although the past 24 hours have seen bulls struggle to break beyond $9,651, a sustained grind around current levels could see BTC/USD finally end the wait to cement an upside above $10,000.
That certainly is the opinion of Josh Rager from Blockroots who tweeted that a slow move to $9,700 would set the stage for a retake of $10k.
Strong support here will be “ideal” for a push to the psychological target.
Volatility and institutional interest likely to push Bitcoin higher
Bitcoin rising to a high of $9,651 on Thursday heralded a return of volatility to the crypto market, with BTC/USD posting its highest price level since mid-June. The gains meant that the top cryptocurrency had breached the upper curve of the squeezing Bollinger Band, which had seen volatility drop to its lowest level in over two years.
The spike to a monthly high is likely to be followed by a bout of low volatility and bulls only need to prevent a breakdown to the $9,000-$9,400 range to retain an advantage.
Also, the key to Bitcoin surging to $10k could be the spike in institutional interest as observed from CME Bitcoin futures open interest figures.
As per data from Skew, CME Bitcoin futures open interest has increased by more than 30% over the past week.
With over $4 billion in open positions, global interest is at a multi-month high and Bitcoin could wiggle within the added room to add another leg to its expected rally.
US banks have received the regulatory green light to invest a portion of their clients’ assets in crypto custody. This, according to one digital asset manager, means that just a “1% investment, hedge or insurance” by the banks could see the price of Bitcoin double and hit $20,000.
Charles Edwards suggests that putting just 1% of banks’ assets in crypto could impact price massively.