Bitcoin climbed above $95,000 this week, its highest level since November 2025, as traders weighed shifting rate expectations and renewed focus on U.S. digital-asset policy. The move extends January’s rebound after a choppy stretch of trading.
Bitcoin briefly reached $97,655 on Wednesday, gaining about 3.8% over 24 hours, based on market pricing cited by Barron’s. Ether also rose to around $3,375, while XRP traded near $2.15 in the same window.
Even after the breakout, Bitcoin remains well below its previous cycle peak. Barron’s has reported the token is still roughly 25% under an October 2025 high above $126,000, keeping the rally within a broader consolidation phase rather than a straight-line recovery.
Regulation in focus: “Clarity Act” headlines return
Part of the momentum has been linked to Washington’s regulatory calendar. Barron’s noted the Senate Banking Committee is expected to review the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a proposal aimed at market structure and investor protections that some traders view as supportive of larger institutional participation.
Macro context: a risk asset moving with rates
The push above $95,000 comes as investors continue to recalibrate expectations for the timing and pace of U.S. rate cuts. Earlier this month, Bitcoin traded closer to $90,000 while markets digested economic data and the implications for liquidity-sensitive assets.
Dom Harz: Bitcoin’s “safe-haven” framing meets a DeFi rebound
Dr. Dom Harz, co-founder of Bitcoin DeFi project BOB, said Bitcoin’s break above $95,000 reflects “the growing demand as investors look for stability amid broader market volatility,” adding that regulatory developments are encouraging institutional participation.
“We’re seeing this optimism echoed in Bitcoin DeFi, as the Total Value Locked of native Bitcoin deployed into DeFi has also made a steady recovery, holding steady above $7 billion for the first time since November,” Harz said.
The bigger gap: most Bitcoin still sits idle
Despite that recovery, Harz said native Bitcoin DeFi remains a small slice of the overall market. “Most Bitcoin remains inactive today, with only around 0.3% engaged in native DeFi applications,” he said, arguing that the participation rate is still far from what has developed on Ethereum.
Harz pointed to the contrast in capital deployment as the key long-term variable. “By comparison, roughly 30% of Ethereum’s market value is actively used in DeFi,” he said, framing dormant Bitcoin supply as the main source of potential growth for liquidity and yield strategies.
A scale-up scenario: $7B to $700B
Harz said the opportunity is not incremental. “This dormant Bitcoin supply represents a massive opportunity for both retail and institutional users to put their BTC to work and unlock liquidity and yield-generating benefits,” he said.
“If Bitcoin reached similar levels to Ethereum, the market could grow from $7 billion to $700 billion,” Harz added, outlining a 100x expansion case driven by participation rather than price alone.
What markets watch next
Bitcoin’s next test is whether it can hold above $95,000 without fading back into range trading. At the same time, investors are watching whether Bitcoin-native DeFi can sustain TVL growth and convert a small share of idle BTC into persistent on-chain liquidity.
