Bitcoin Starts the New Year on the Rise...Recovers to $95,000

BTC, Rebound Success with Inflow of Institutional Funds
XRP, Rises 10% on Announcement of Expanded SBI Investment
Experts Reveal Divergent BTC Forecasts

BTC recovered to $95,000 on the 2nd, marking a positive start to the new year.

After consistently declining without a 'Santa Rally' at the end of last year, BTC has rebounded due to a combination of factors. The factors behind BTC's rebound include ▲ lack of exchange supply ▲ continuous buying by institutions ▲ inflow of funds through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Cryptocurrency media outlet BanklessTimes reported that "the amount of BTC held in exchanges has reached an all-time low, and the halving last year has halved the mining rewards, further reducing supply," and "on the demand side, the continuous buying by MicroStrategy and the inflow of physical ETFs are driving the bullishness."

In the case of altcoins, XRP led the altcoin rally, rising about 10% in just two days after the start of the new year.

The rise in XRP is attributed to the announcement by Japan's largest financial group, SBI Holdings, that it has increased its investment in Ripple Labs, the developer of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) blockchain. On the 1st, multiple foreign media outlets reported that SBI Holdings has increased its investment in Ripple Labs.

SBI Holdings' stake in Ripple Labs is about 8%, and the investment amount is about 1.4 trillion yen (about 14.7 trillion won).

◇Bitcoin = As of 4 pm on the 2nd based on Upbit, the price of BTC is 14,217,000 won. BTC's market dominance is 57.49%.

According to on-chain analysis platform Glassnode, the long (bullish) and short (bearish) betting ratio in the BTC futures market is 60.18% and 39.82%, respectively.

Experts have revealed divergent forecasts for BTC. There are optimistic forecasts that BTC could rise to $200,000, as well as pessimistic views that it could fall to $80,000.

Carol Alexander, a professor of finance at the University of Sussex, forecasts that BTC is likely to reach $200,000 by 2025.

She said, "2025 is the most optimistic time for the BTC market," and "BTC will likely trade around $150,000 by the summer."

Alex Saunders, head of research at Galaxy Digital, also said, "BTC will easily surpass $200,000 by the end of 2025."

On the other hand, James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, predicted that BTC will trade between $80,000 and $150,000 in 2025. He warned that if the pro-cryptocurrency policies of President-elect Trump are not realized, BTC could fall to $80,000.

Yuwei Yang, an economist at Bit Mining, also analyzed that "the overall upward trend of BTC will be maintained," but pointed out that if there is an external shock such as a stock market downturn, BTC could temporarily fall to $80,000.

◇Rising Coins = The cryptocurrency that recorded the largest increase compared to the previous trading day as of 4 pm on the 2nd based on Upbit was Pepe (PEPE), which rose about 5%.

Pepe is a 'meme coin' based on Solana, and is one of the main players in the meme coin craze that started last year, characterized by a frog image.

◇Fear and Greed Index = The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index provided by Alternative is at 70 points, entering the 'Greed' stage. The Greed stage is characterized by high price volatility and trading volume, indicating an upward price trend. There is a high possibility of a short-term peak formation, so caution is required when selling.

The Cryptocurrency Relative Strength Index (RSI) provided by Glassnode is 57.8, indicating a 'neutral' state. RSI measures the relative strength of the upward and downward pressures of a specific asset price, and indicates the overbought and oversold levels of the asset.