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Coinbase Institutional Head of Strategy John D’Agostino sheds light on Bitcoin’s recent price action. There may still be more room for the demand for Bitcoin to grow. Standard Chartered digital assets research chief Geoffrey Kendrick has predicted that the asset will soon hit a fresh price record.

Bitcoin appears to have regained its mojo. After a turbulent few months, the asset is again back above $100,000, less than 7% below its January price record of nearly $110,000.

What has changed?

Scarcity

Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Institutional Head of Strategy John D’Agostinosaid several factors have been driving Bitcoin’s performance in recent weeks.

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First addressing Bitcoin’s performance shortly after the April 2 tariffs shock, he said that the asset decoupled from stocks as investors saw it as an inflationary hedge with a more favorable risk-to-reward potential than gold, which had already experienced a significant rally, reiterating previous remarks to CNBC.

Now, D’Agostino told CNBC that Bitcoin’s price has another driver: scarcity. He cited recent flows to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, stating that these investment vehicles had seen roughly $5.5 billion in inflows in the past three weeks.

“Bitcoin miners cannot produce Bitcoin as fast as this overwhelming demand,” he said.

Meanwhile, there may still be room for this demand to grow. D’Agostino told CNBC that while Bitcoin ETFs have performed “absolutely phenomenally,” most wealth managers still do not let their financial advisers recommend them to clients.

“That’s like a shoe salesman not being able to recommend Nike,” he said. “So that’s going to change at some point. And I’ll sort of leave it to your viewers to determine what happens when that thundering herd of brokers can actually pick up the phone and recommend this ETF.”

As of April 30, digital asset-focused investment firm Tephra Digital estimated that $31 trillion in capital on wealth management platforms remained restricted from accessing Bitcoin ETFs.

“Structural constraints are suppressing flows — and creating opportunity. That won’t last forever,” the firm said at the time.

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Fresh All-Time Highs Next?

Amid Bitcoin’s recent price momentum, Standard Chartered digital assets research chief Geoffrey Kendrick said last week that a fresh Bitcoin all-time high was “all but assured,” adding that his $120,000 price target for Q2 “may be too low.”

Like D’Agostino, Kendrick cited the strong Bitcoin ETF inflows over the past three weeks. He also pointed out that Strategy had ramped up current and future Bitcoin accumulation. The firm has added nearly $2 billion worth of the leading digital asset to its stash in the past month. It has also doubled its capital raise target for Bitcoin accumulation through 2027 to $84 billion.

Kendrick also cited New Hampshire’s passing of a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill into law, predicting that other states would follow. The law authorizes the state treasurer to invest up to 5% of public funds into digital assets with market capitalizations of at least $500 billion. Currently, only Bitcoin meets that requirement.

At last look, Bitcoin is trading at $104,000, up 1% on the day and 10% in the past week. Polymarket bettors have put 52% odds that the asset will hit $110,000 in May.

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This article Coinbase Adviser Says This Is What's Driving Bitcoin's Surge Above $100K originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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