Bitcoin may surpass $9,000 as early as this weekend

• Bitcoin has entered a consolidation phase on approach to $9,000.
• The institutional adoption has been growing in 2019.

Bitcoin bulls hit a brick wall on the approach to $9,000. The first digital coin settled at $8,960 after several unsuccessful attempts to pass this barrier.  At the time of writing, BTC/USD is up 2.5% since the beginning of the day.

Notably, as the cryptocurrency market resumed the recovery, Bitcoin's market share dropped from 66.7% on Thursday to 66.0% on Friday. Some altcoins like Ethereum Classic, Chainlink and Cosmos are experiencing double-digit growth.

Institutional adoption on the rise

Traditional investors such as hedge funds, pensions, and family offices have been increasing cryptocurrency holdings, according to the recent research conducted by a Bitcoin trust provider, Grayscale Investments.

The latest data showed that inflows in Bitcoin from accredited investors reached $608 million in 2019, which is more than the total amount raised in the previous six years. Notably, 71% of the inflows came from institutional investors, against 66% in 2018.

Grayscale Investments provide exposure to the market of digital assets without the need to own Bitcoin and other coins directly  The total assets under Grayscale’s management to about $2 billion

“It’s clear that we’re experiencing institutional adoption. The asset class is experiencing increased validation from legacy companies like Fidelity and CME, signaling to institutions and the investment community as a whole that crypto as an asset class is here to stay,” Michael Sonnenshein, managing director at Grayscale said.

BTC/USD: technical picture

Bitcoin has resumed the upside movement but faced a stiff resistance of approach to psychological $9,000. This barrier is reinforced by SMA200 daily and the upper line of the daily Bollinger Band. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $9,700 (38.2% Fibo retracements for the upside move from December 2018 low to July 2019 high. This resistance separates us from psychological $10,000, it may slow down the recovery and trigger the downside correction.

On the downside, the pivotal support is created by $8,600. This barrier has been validated several times in recent days. Also. it is strengthened by 50% Fibo retracement located just below this area. The RSI on a daily chart is flat, which means that the coin may enter a consolidation phase.

BTC/USD daily chart

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