Market sentiment, however, shows a subtle divergence. Despite Bitcoin breaking its historical high point, the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index remains in the "neutral" zone around 70, far below the feverish level of over 80 at the end of 2024. This restrained sentiment, in fact, creates conditions for continued growth - when the market is not overly optimistic, there is still room for new funds to enter.
Signals from the options market are even more intriguing. Call option rates continue to exceed put option rates, with traders generally expecting Bitcoin to challenge $120,000 next week. Ryan Gorman, Chief Strategy Officer of Uranium Digital, predicts: "As the Washington Crypto Week approaches, positive momentum may push the price gap to $120,000 or higher by the end of next week".
Epilogue: Value Reassessment of a New Cycle
As Bitcoin breaks through $117,000 and ETH advances to $3,000, this rally has transcended mere fund-driven momentum, becoming a microcosm of global asset allocation paradigm shift. The inflationary pressure of traditional fiat currency systems, the trust crisis in the US debt market, and the risk appetite spillover from tech stocks collectively constitute the underlying logic of cryptocurrency value reassessment.
Standard Chartered Bank's $200,000 prediction is not the endpoint. Blockstream CEO's assertion is even more disruptive: "Bitcoin will ultimately devour the gold market, with a potential market value of $10 trillion". Meanwhile, ETH, through technological upgrades and staking economy, is transforming from "digital oil" to a "yield-generating asset", opening a new path of integration with the traditional financial system.
This bull market, driven by a triple symphony of compliance, technological revolution, and hedging demand, is both a reflection on the traditional financial system and a public vote on digital value storage forms. As code begins to rewrite financial rules, the only certainty is that we are standing at the critical point of a paradigm shift.
