Bitcoin (BTC) continued to rally on Thursday, reaching another all-time high above $100,00

After a roughly 2% gain in the past 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) is now trading above $100,00 following a week-long rally.

Bitcoin continued its rally on Thursday, reaching another all-time high above $111,000, while the broader cryptocurrency experienced modest gains.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency is now trading above the $111,000 mark following a roughly 2% gain in the past 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro. The latest surge has pushed its market capitalization past $2.2 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

After a week-long rally, Bitcoin hit a new ATH of $111,273 at around 02:50 ET on Thursday. It fell slightly to trade at $110,800 at the last check.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) increased 7% to $2,660, while XRP climbed 3% to $2.43. Solana (SOL) rose by 7% to $179.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by 2.5% on the day to $3.64 trillion. In the same timeframe, leveraged liquidations totaled $432 million, according to CoinGlass. BTC accounted for approximately $165 million, followed by ETH with around $117 million.

On May 21, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted approximately $609 million in inflows, while Ethereum ETFs recorded $587,000, according to SoSoValue data.

Bitcoin Season

Paul Howard, chief crypto market analyst at Wincent, attributed BTC’s latest rally to multiple factors and believes that more gains are likely in the coming months.

“There is a combination of factors at play that has helped push BTC to new highs, and a further move above $111,000 is inevitable,” Howard said. “Part of this is due to a much friendlier U.S. regulatory environment than we've seen in the past.”

He also pointed to improved macroeconomic sentiment over the past three months, along with broader structural changes in the crypto space – particularly in how institutions can now engage with products like ETFs, tokenization, real-world assets (RWAs), stablecoins, and spot and derivatives markets.

“All these and the recent flood of M&A activity with IPO listings have set up for what Wincent already described on record as a new ‘Buy in May and go away’ theme for Bitcoin,” Howard said.

Some Urge Caution

However, Dr. Kirill Kretov, CEO of CoinPanel, cautioned that the recent move might be a false breakout rather than a sustainable rally.

“Yes, Bitcoin has just broken above $111,000, but we should be cautious. This might be a trap. Structurally, the market has no real resistance because liquidity has been drained from exchanges since late 2024, making it easier to move prices with relatively little capital. We saw a similar setup in 2021 before the last major bull run.”

Kretov argued that while the price surge looks impressive, it lacks the fundamental support of strong market participation.

“To really send the market ‘to the sky,’ it needs fuel, and that fuel isn’t coming from institutional players right now, because they’re largely hedged. Retail is mostly absent, and those still in the market are looking for exit points. What this rally invites is a fresh wave of overleveraged speculators chasing highs and opening unhedged long positions.”