Bitcoin (BTC) has been the darling of the cryptocurrency world ever since Day 1 with its astronomic price rises and growing range of use cases across the digital sphere.

Yet one question remains on the lips of every BTC investor: can it reach the golden $100,000 mark?

Early 2024 has been encouraging so far. The coin passed its previous high of $64,000 in early March after a period of sustained increases.

But it has also been subjected to many twists and turns along its history, which has left many investors uncertain.

In this article, we’ll explore the arguments for and against Bitcoin’s ascent to six figures to answer the question of whether 2024 can finally be the year.

Bitcoin’s latest rise: why?

BTC’s latest rise, from the depths of the sub-20K in early 2023 to its current levels, is another peak in the cryptocurrency’s remarkable story since its formation in 2011.

As the king of digital coins, it’s always been the trailblazer in price values. Part of the reason is its wide range of digital use cases. Many fintechs and even traditional banks offer Bitcoin purchase and conversion options as part of their banking services; you can now use your digital wallet to purchase items in Bitcoin; and there’s even an option to pay for video games or deposit in cryptocurrency casinos with BTC.

This widespread validation is a key driver in value increases, something which altcoins don’t tend to have, and it’s something that increased massively in January when the US financial regulator approved Bitcoin ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund. This move injected “institutional maturity” into the crypto market, a term used by research firm Chainalysis to refer to BTC’s mainstream expansion. It’s likely to attract many more BTC investors as a result.

Other factors such as a boom in tech stocks, which has increased appetite for risk; Bitcoin’s upcoming ‘halving’, where the supply of newly mined bitcoins is halved; and BTC becoming a hedge against inflation are also playing their part.

But can these components be enough to push the world’s most famous crypto to six figures and stay there?

The argument for the rise to 100k

It’s difficult to overstate just how important regulatory actions such as the approval of ETFs are to Bitcoin. A surge in investor confidence is extremely likely which always leads to jumps in value.

Unless regulators make a historic U-turn, an extremely unlikely event, then a sustained increase is on the cards.

Bitcoin investors are also excited by the coin’s technical momentum. This refers to the strength and direction of BTC’s price movements largely based on historical data. For example, a consistent increase in Bitcoin’s price means positive momentum, while a decrease indicates negative momentum.

Understanding technical momentum helps traders predict price movements and make informed decisions, and many believe that the current trajectory may continue for some time.

The argument against the rise to 100k

Despite the positive signs, some experts are urging caution. The big danger, of course, is a market correction. Parabolic market moves are rarely sustainable in the long term, and Bitcoin’s rapid ascent may come too quick.

Also, for every regulatory success, there’s a crackdown. India and China remain among the world’s biggest BTC cynics, but there are also dissenting voices in the UK, EU, and the United States that can introduce uncertainty and dampen investor sentiment.

Bitcoin’s price is also influenced by speculative trading behavior and the “greater fool” theory, which suggests that prices may eventually collapse if there are no greater fools left to buy at inflated prices.

Put simply, Bitcoin’s history has been marked by meteoric rises and periods of plummeting values. The next collapse may well arrive before the coin has chance to hit the 100k mark.

The road to 100k: will it happen?

The most talked-about topic in the crypto world is likely to dominate industry headlines for the next few months, with influencers, experts, and normal investors speculating on whether the big six-figure value can come into reality.

Forbes has tried to quantify this with an analysis into the probabilities of it happening. After multiple expert interviews, it has predicted that the coin will hit the 100k mark around January or February 2025. Some of its contributors think it may happen even quicker with one data center executive even predicting a four-fold increase.

Yet many BTC investors will no doubt say they’ve heard this one before. Predictions of a rise to 100k in 2022 were extinguished when the coin suffered the biggest drop in its history.

The short answer is probably “who knows?” but many investors will have a lot of fun strapping themselves in for the ride over the next year or so.

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