Bitcoin aims for $25K as institutional demand increases and economic data soothes investor fears

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $22,500 on Jan. 20 and has since been able to defend that level — accumulating 40.5% gains in the month of January. The move accompanied improvements in the stock market, which also rallied after China dropped COVID-19 restrictions after three years of strict pandemic controls.

E-commerce and entertainment companies lead as the year-to-date market performers. Warner Bros (WBD) added 54%, Shopify (SHOP) 42%, MercadoLibre (MELI) 41%, Carnival Corp (CCL) 35% and Paramount Global (PARA) managed a gain 35% so far. Corporate earnings continue to attract investors' inflow and attention after oil-producer Chevron posted the second-largest annual profit ever recorded, at $36.5 billion.

More importantly, analysts expect Apple (AAPL) to post a mind-boggling $96 billion in earnings for its 2022 on Feb. 2. The $2.3 trillion tech company results vastly surpasses the $67.4 billion profit that Microsoft (MSFT) reported in 2022. Strong earnings also help to validate the current stock valuations, but they do not necessarily guarantee a brighter future for the economy.

A more favorable scenario for risk assets came largely from a decline in leading economic indicators, including homebuilder, trucking surveys and contracting Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), according to Evercore ISI's senior managing director, Julian Emanuel.

According to the research from financial services firm Matrixport, American institutional investors represent some 85% of the recent purchasing activity. This means large players are "not giving up on crypto." The study considers the returns occurring during U.S. trading hours but expects the outperformance of altcoins relative to Bitcoin.

From one side, Bitcoin bulls have reasons to