Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Consolidates As $100,000 Looms

Bitcoin (BTC) maintained its position above $96,000 despite facing selling pressure. The flagship cryptocurrency rose to $97,760 as bulls attempted to push the price towards $100,000. However, it lost momentum after reaching this level, dropping to $95,929 before rising to its current level. BTC has been marginally down over the past 24 hours and trading at around $96,370. BTC’s price action could signal renewed buying opportunities for traders as bulls eye a move past $100,000. US Unlikely To Add Bitcoin To Reserves: Arthur Hayes BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes believes the US government is unlikely to add more Bitcoin to its reserves, likely holding on to what it already has. Hayes believes this is due to high debt levels and the stereotype behind “Bitcoin bros.” Hayes added that he found it difficult to imagine a properly elected politician openly announcing the government would print money to buy Bitcoin. “The United States is a deficit country; the only way they can do a Strategic Reserve is not sell the Bitcoin they took from people, fine, that’s 200,000 Bitcoin. It’s hard to imagine any “properly elected” politician openly announcing that the government plans to print money to buy Bitcoin, especially when the popular narrative is a bunch of Bitcoin bros going to the club. Is that really what you want people to think about your policy.” President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 6 to create a Bitcoin strategic reserve and a digital asset stockpile. The US holds 198,012 Bitcoin worth over $18 billion. The assets were seized during criminal and civil cases, including BTC seized from the Silk Road and Bitfinex cases. However, industry experts believe if the US purchases Bitcoin, it could create an aggressive domino effect. Sergej Kunz, co-founder of exchange aggregator 1inch, believes if the US begins acquiring BTC , even smaller countries may struggle to purchase the asset. Brown University Enters ETF Space Brown University announced its arrival in the crypto ETF ecosystem with an investment of $4.9 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). According to disclosure documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the university purchased 105000 shares as its first quarter 2025 investment. The investment comprises 2.3% of its $216 million equity portfolio. The investment sees Brown University join other established educational institutions that are investing in digital assets through approved investment funds. Hedge funds, pension funds, and university endowments have invested in spot Bitcoin ETFs because they offer a dependable and well-known Bitcoin access method. Brown University has an impressive investment portfolio worth $7 billion, registering an impressive return of 11.3% in 2024. The portfolio is diversified across various asset classes. The university’s investment in Bitcoin ETFs could signal a potential shift in investment strategy. Franklin Templeton Backs Bitcoin DeFi Push The narrative around Bitcoin is quickly expanding beyond its traditional role as a store of value to a potential DeFi asset. Industry players, including Franklin Templeton, view the development as a positive step towards enhancing Bitcoin’s utility without diluting its appeal as a store of value. Kevin Farrelly, Managing Principal of blockchain venture capital at Franklin Templeton, explained during his keynote address at the Bitlayer side event this week, “I don’t think focusing on Bitcoin DeFi will dilute or complicate Bitcoin’s core narrative. Instead, it expands Bitcoin’s utility for a specific type of investor — one with enough technical sophistication to optimize for yield, security, or custom portfolio needs. These users aren’t replacing the ‘store of value’ thesis; they’re building on it. It’s not narrative dilution, it’s infrastructure evolution.” Franklin Templeton has invested in Bitlayer, a BitVM serving as Bitcoin’s computational layer while preserving the mainnet’s security. Bitlayer offers lower fees, faster transaction speeds, smart contract functionalities, and advanced DeFi integrations. Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $90,000 on Friday as bullish momentum intensified. However, the flagship cryptocurrency fell back to $96,369, facing one last resistance level before a potential move to $100,000. All eyes are at this level, which could trigger profit-taking, or act as a springboard towards a new all-time high. One analyst believes the flagship cryptocurrency could hit a new all-time high within the next 100 days. The analyst tied BTC’s price action to the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), an indicator measuring 30-day market volatility expectations, pointing out that the indicator dropped from 55 to 25 over the past 50 days. A VIX score below 18 indicates a risk-on environment, favoring assets like BTC . The analyst’s model, which had a 95% accuracy, predicted a target of $135,000 within the next 30 days in the VIX remains low. Speaking about Bitcoin’s volatility, Fidelity’s director of global macro, Jurrien Timmer, stated, “Bitcoin is slightly different than gold since it has this Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde personality where you never quite know which Bitcoin is going to show up to the party. Will it be the exponential gold bitcoin (hard money and store of value), or will it be a NASDAQ-like speculative asset?” BTC registered a substantial rise last Monday (April 21), rising nearly 3%. Bullish sentiment intensified on Tuesday as the price rallied almost 7%, surging past $90,000 and settling at $93,373. The rally stalled on Wednesday after encountering volatility and selling pressure. Despite this, BTC registered a marginal increase and settled at $93,749. The price fell to an intraday low of $91,693 as sellers attempted to overwhelm buyers. However, BTC rebounded from this level to claim $94,000 and settle at $94,009. The price continued to push higher on Friday, increasing nearly 1% and settling at $94,776. Source: TradingView Price action turned bearish over the weekend as BTC registered a marginal decline on Saturday and fell 0.99% on Sunday to settle at $93,802. The current week started on a bullish note as BTC rose 1.29% to cross $95,000 and settle at $95,010. However, selling pressure returned on Tuesday as the price fell 0.70% to $94,341. BTC encountered volatility on Wednesday as buyers and sellers struggled to establish control. Sellers ultimately gained the upper hand as BTC registered a marginal decline and settled at $94,160. BTC rebounded on Thursday, rising over 2% to surge past $96,000 and settle at $96,452, but not before reaching an intraday high of $97,406. Buyers retained control on Friday as the price rose 0.50% to $96,939 after reaching an intraday high of $97,996. The current session sees BTC marginally down as buyers and sellers struggle to establish control. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Source: Bitzo