Bitcoin Bounces Back From DeepSeek Market Rout — $150K Target Still On Table?

Bitcoin (BTC) has rebounded strongly after a recent market downturn triggered by the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. The cryptocurrency’s swift recovery has reignited a technical pattern that eyes a price boom toward the $150,000 mark in the coming weeks or months.

Bitcoin Returns Above $100K Threshold

On Jan. 27, the tech sector faced turbulence following DeepSeek’s unveiling of an advanced AI model. The development led to a substantial sell-off in U.S. technology stocks, with major companies like Nvidia experiencing sharp declines.

The ripple effects of this event extended to the cryptocurrency market, where Bitcoin’s price briefly dipped below $100,000, reaching an intraday low of $97,750.

Despite this setback, Bitcoin quickly regained its footing. As of Jan. 28, the cryptocurrency is trading for over $103,000, marking a 5.75% increase from its local low.

The swift recovery has led market observers to revisit optimistic forecasts for Bitcoin’s price trajectory.

For instance, an independent market analyst on X noted that BTC’s decline after the DeepSeek market rout did little to dissuade it from its bullish continuation trajectory, confirmed by what appears to be a bull pennant pattern.

“A close as low as $96k would still be massively bullish,” he wrote while anticipating the price to reach over $150,000 in the coming months.

The bullish target aligns with another upside technical setup dubbed “bull flag,” as shown below.

A bull flag forms when the price consolidates inside a parallel channel after undergoing a strong rally. Meanwhile, it resolves once the price breaks above the upper trendline and rises by as much as the maximum size of the uptrend prior.

As a rule of technical analysis, XRP’s upside target is around $146,700 — almost around the $150,000 psychological target.

Institutional Investors Are Doubling Down on Bitcoin — While Retail Panic Sells

Institutional investors are aggressively accumulating Bitcoin, while retail holders continue to offload their holdings, according to the latest CryptoQuant data.

Since mid-2024, whale and institutional holdings have steadily increased, coinciding with Bitcoin’s surge past $100,000. Meanwhile, retail holdings have dropped sharply, particularly since November 2024, suggesting smaller investors may be cashing out profits amid market uncertainty.

This accumulation is reflected in recent purchases by MicroStrategy, which added 10,107 BTC worth $1.1 billion, and BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, which saw a $63.9 million inflow on Jan. 28.

If this trend persists, Bitcoin could sustain its momentum toward the $150,000 target, driven by institutional demand mainly since these investors tend to hold assets for longer periods.