Bitcoin Is Closing In On $98,000 – And Analysts Are Watching This Resistance Level For Its Next Rally

Bitcoin’s price rose nearly 2% over the past 24 hours, trading around $96,800 after briefly pushing toward the $98,000 level.

• Bitcoin hit a three-month high above $97,700 on Wednesday, leading gains among major digital assets.
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest inflows since the October 10 market crash.
• Glassnode data shows Bitcoin is trading within a heavy resistance zone between $93,000 and $110,000, where long-term holders have previously sold.

Bitcoin (BTC) was looking to hit a higher high past $98,000 in early morning trade on Thursday after breaking past $97,000 in the previous session, and analysts say there’s heavy resistance ahead.

Bitcoin’s price was trading at around $96,800, up 1.9% in the last 24 hours and leading gains among crypto majors. The apex cryptocurrency hit a three-month high of over $97,700 on Wednesday. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their highest inflows since the October 10 market crash.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BTC remained in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day as chatter rose to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels. Despite the uptick, Bitcoin’s price remains over 20% below its record high of $126,000 seen last year. 

Market watchers are keeping an eye on developments between the U.S. and Iran, as well as developments on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell being subpoenaed by the Trump administration. After the crypto market’s price movement decoupled from the stock market this past week, some are hoping its status as a digital safe haven asset may return. 

Will Bitcoin Hit Higher Highs?

According to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, Bitcoin is now trading in a price area where a lot of long-term investors previously bought and later sold. It noted that this zone, roughly between $93,000 and $110,000, has acted like a ceiling in recent months.

It said that every time Bitcoin has moved into this range, selling pressure has increased, stopping the rally – a trend that has been on a loop since November. Until that happens, the zone between $93,000 and $110,000 remains a key resistance level for Bitcoin to beat.

Analyst Caleb Franzen said Bitcoin’s price movement over the last two days looks very similar to a setup seen in April 2025. At the time, the pattern was followed by a big rally, with Bitcoin rising from $93,000 to $123,000 over the next few months.

He said the key difference this time is that in April, Bitcoin broke above its 100-day and 200-day moving averages (DMAs). Currently, Bitcoin is still trading below those trend lines. In his opinion, the breakout rally has not confirmed the price break through those technical indicators.

Ethereum Needs To Cross $3,400 For A Rally

The overall cryptocurrency market moved in line with Bitcoin, 1.5% higher at $3.36 trillion. CoinGlass data showed over $450 million crypto bets were wiped out in the last 24 hours, with shorts on Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) leading losses. 

Ethereum’s price rose 1.8% in the last 24 hours, still struggling to sustain itself above $3,300. According to crypto influencer Ash Crypto, the leading altcoin has been trading sideways over the last 62 days. If Ethereum’s price closes above the $3,400 level, it could rally to $4,000.

Tron (TRX), Solana (SOL) and Binance Coin (BNB) posted gains of under 1% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, Ripple’s native token XRP (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano (ADA) were in the red.

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