The crypto market is holding its breath. After a bruising, month-long selloff that saw Bitcoin plunge from a record high of $126,080 in October to nearly $81,000 late last week, bulls are finally fighting back.
Bitcoin has officially climbed back above the psychologically crucial $90,000 mark for the first time in almost a week, raising hopes that the market is pulling out of a potential bear cycle.
This ‘modest’ advance, as it is being called, has put higher price levels back in sharp focus. The rebound is not driven by the typical retail frenzy, but by a broad rally in ‘risk assets’—including tech equities—and a notable easing of volatility, which has given professional traders the confidence to push prices higher.
Crucially, the US Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) offered by BlackRock attracted fresh inflows, snapping a streak of redemptions that had underscored waning institutional interest.
As the market digests the possibility of a third Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December, investors are watching keenly to see if this bounce is a fleeting moment of respite or a genuine trend reversal.
Behind The Bitcoin Price Surge: How The Federal Reserve and ETFs Are Driving Hope
The recent brutal price plunge was largely attributed to two major factors: waning institutional investor interest and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
Cryptocurrencies typically thrive when the US central bank cuts interest rates, as lower rates reduce the appeal of safer assets like bonds, making riskier investments more attractive.
Following two rate cuts in September and October 2025, market observers have been locked in a debate about whether the Fed will go through with a third cut at their final meeting of the year in December.
Bond futures traders have dramatically repriced their expectations, with the odds of a quarter-point reduction hovering around 79%, a significant increase from earlier in the month.
This growing conviction that the Fed may soon resume cutting rates is the primary macroeconomic tailwind pushing digital assets higher, causing them to move ‘in step with equities’.
Further supporting the bull case is the shift in institutional fund flow. The BlackRock US Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) attracting fresh inflows is a key signal.
Just last week, Bitcoin had dipped to its lowest point since April, nearly wiping out all of its 2025 gains, in a period marked by heavy selling.
This was part of a broader cycle where investors withdrew over $3.5 billion from Bitcoin ETFs in November, matching the mass liquidation seen in February.
The fact that BlackRock’s fund—a bellwether for institutional sentiment—is now seeing renewed capital flows suggests that the period of de-risking might be concluding.
Testing The Bottom: Why Bitcoin Price Reclaiming $90K Is Crucial
The market is now focused on whether this sudden strength can endure through the Thanksgiving holiday and into December.
Historically, Bitcoin performance around Thanksgiving has been mixed, with an average return of -0.8% on the day itself over the last 10 years.
However, the current pre-holiday rally, which has seen Bitcoin climb more than 5% on Wednesday, is a notable outlier and provides hope that the trend is reversing.
The current price of $90,035 (according to CoinGecko) is still nearly 29% below the all-time high of $126,080 set in October.
The rough two weeks before the rebound had led many analysts to fear the start of a protracted bear market, with some even forecasting a potential drop to $69,000.
Experts had pointed to waning liquidity, exacerbated by a brutal October crash that wiped out a record $19 billion in open interest, as a major cause for the decline.
For the current rally to evolve into a sustained uptrend, analysts suggest that the price must decisively reclaim the $100,000–$105,000 range.
The present trading activity, characterised by thin liquidity ahead of the US holiday and subdued liquidation data, suggests that ‘bulls appear to be testing whether the worst of the drawdown has passed.’
If the price can continue to hold steady, it could ‘unlock massive double-digit gains’ for altcoins like Ethereum, Solana, and XRP, which also saw gains on Wednesday.