Bitcoin Soars Past $120,000 as Institutional Demand Fuels Historic Rally

On the night of July 14, the price of the leading cryptocurrency reached a historic high, surpassing $120,000. The increase since the beginning of the month has been 13%.

This rally has been driven by institutional investors. The assets managed by BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin Spot ETF have exceeded $84 billion. This fund achieved this growth in just 200 trading days, while it took the gold ETF GLD 15 years to reach a similar level.

As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is priced at $122,110, reflecting a daily increase of 3.6%, according to CoinGecko.

A speaker confirmed that the main catalyst for this surge has been the sustained interest from institutional investors via spot ETFs.

An expert highlighted that the macroeconomic landscape has also played a role in Bitcoin’s rise. There is a growing «risk appetite» in global markets, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices reaching new historical highs. According to Binance Research, investors are moving from safe-haven assets to high-risk options, including cryptocurrencies, added Khamyakov.

The speaker also pointed to a trend where companies are incorporating Bitcoin into their corporate reserves. ARK Invest reports that the interest in holding digital assets on corporate balance sheets has more than doubled this year.

_»The current rise in Bitcoin appears not as a brief spike, but rather as a result of a mature, layered demand influenced by macroeconomic trends, institutional adoption, and the rapidly growing integration of cryptocurrencies into corporate financial strategies,»_ Khamyakov concluded.

Eric Balchunas, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, emphasized that IBIT reached the $80 billion milestone faster than any ETF in history.

Since April, inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have totaled $16.2 billion. According to BTC Markets analyst Rachel Lucas, these instruments now account for over 6% of the total market capitalization of digital gold, indicating a «strong conviction among institutional investors.»

The market is also responding positively to the upcoming «Crypto Week» in the United States, where lawmakers will deliberate on several critical bills. Among them is the CLARITY Act, designed to delineate the roles of the SEC and CFTC in overseeing digital assets, and the GENIUS Act, which aims to establish a legal framework for stablecoins.

10x Research analyst Marcus Thielen believes that Bitcoin has transitioned from a technological asset to a macroeconomic one—a hedge against U.S. budget issues. He argues that the recent increase in the debt ceiling by $5 trillion and the rising budget deficit bolster Bitcoin’s status.

_»No one is discussing blockchain use cases anymore. Bitcoin has become a safeguard against uncontrolled budget deficits. Along with gold, it now represents the primary line of defense against an impending financial crisis,»_ Thielen stated.

Network data suggest further growth potential. The NUPL metric for long-term holders is at 0.69, below the euphoria threshold of 0.75. In the previous cycle, the market stayed above this level for 228 days; currently, it has only been for 30 days.

Bitcoin’s network activity remains moderate. The average daily transactions have increased to 364,000, yet this is significantly lower than the peak values of 530,000 to 666,000 seen during past market highs.

_»There are no signs of active coin selling in the market. This reinforces both fundamental and technical bullish signals,»_ explained analyst Axel Adler Jr.

According to CryptoQuant, accumulation addresses, which are solely acquiring Bitcoin, have increased their activity by 71% over the past month. They now hold 250,000 BTC, the highest since 2024.

Experts anticipate the upward trend will continue. Lucas predicts the price will move towards the $125,000 to $128,000 range in the near future. Jeff May, the Chief Operating Officer of BTSE, believes the price will reach $125,000 within one to two months.

A more optimistic forecast comes from OSL’s Chief Commercial Officer Eugene Chung, who suggests that by the end of the year, the asset could rise to between $130,000 and $150,000.

Ledn’s CEO, John Glover, stated that Bitcoin’s price could hit $136,000 by the end of the current year. He believes that the rally of the leading cryptocurrency is well-founded for continued growth.

He noted that the recent breakout of previous highs confirms the end of a corrective phase. Glover views the June drop to $96,000 as a pullback of the «wave (ii)» within a larger «wave 5.»

Ledn’s head remarked that the ultimate target for concluding this bullish cycle remains unchanged, though the timeline for reaching it has shortened.

_»I previously expected this to occur in Q1 2026, but it now seems we may achieve $136,000 by the end of the year,»_ he explained.

It is worth mentioning that Bitcoin _closed_ the second quarter with a 30% increase.