Flight to safe-haven assets, and market bets on Federal Reserve interest cuts could fuel bulls’ ambitions.
Bitcoin price surged more than 3% as the United States federal government entered a partial shutdown on Wednesday, with BTC breaking above $117,000 for the first time in weeks.
Amid a spike in safe-haven assets like gold, investors looking for a different hedge against political and economic uncertainty flocked to Bitcoin.
The gains leave the benchmark asset on the verge of another uptick to the $120,000 level.
Bitcoin’s price climbed sharply in early trading on Wednesday, breaking through the $117,000 mark for the first time since mid-September.
Fueled by a 3% intraday gain, BTC bulls shot to highs of $117,400 amid a rapid ascent that also boosted top altcoins like Ethereum and Solana.
While institutional inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and treasury company moves have provided steady support amid broader market jitters, the latest gains align with fresh moves for safe-haven assets.
Technical resilience and the prevailing market conditions have analysts predicting further traction for BTC price.
Notably, the gains in the past 24 hours have brought Bitcoin’s value just 6% below its all-time high of $124,457 reached on August 14, 2025.
A huge catalyst for the uptick looks to be the market’s reaction to the US government shutdown.
On September 30, Congressional leaders and US President Donald Trump failed to strike a deal on continued government funding.
With the deadline passed, a partial shutdown kicked in, with stocks reacting lower and gold rallying to a new all-time high.
The flight-to-safety dynamics, which also align with a significant dip for the US dollar index, propelled gold’s rally.
Bitcoin, attracting investors as a safe haven asset, is also up and could target the psychological $120k level.
As investors react to the shutdown, and impact of potential delays to the release of key economic data, including the September jobs report, BTC stands poised to benefit.
Ostensibly, gold’s rally has pushed its spot prices to a new peak above $3,890 per ounce.
BTC’s own upside could accelerate as the market assesses the shutdown.
ADP private payrolls data, which showed a 32,000 job loss in September, has fueled expectations of a Federal Reserve cut.
The US central bank cut its interest rate in September, and bets for another cut on October 29 have gotten investors excited.
Lower rates have often been a bullish marker for risk assets, and signs for “Uptober” persist after Bitcoin showed gains in 10 of the past 12 October months.
