Bitcoin reached a new monthly high of $67,000 on 19 July.
The cryptocurrency's rise caused heavy liquidations of up to $96 million for short sellers.
Analysts believe the recent price action shows that Bitcoin bulls are regaining control.
The recent surge might be fueled by institutional investors seeking safe haven assets.
Despite the bullish sentiment, an analyst sees Bitcoin hitting a cycle top between $140,000 and $190,000.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin has soared to a new monthly high, hitting the $67,000 mark.
What caused this bullish surge, how did it affect the rest of the market, and what is next for cryptocurrency?
On 19 July, the flagship cryptocurrency surged more than $3,000 in only a few hours, from $63,303 to $66,506.
On 20 July, the crypto liquidations, most of which came from Bitcoin, were worth a whopping $96 million for the bears.
Bitcoin’s liquidation figures
Coinglass data shows that while the bulls lost only around $14 million, the Bitcoin bears lost more than $50 million as the cryptocurrency’s price turned against them.
In a recent tweet, analyst Caleb Franzen pointed out that Bitcoin's price action between Friday and Saturday shows that its "uptrend behaviour" is intact.
"This has been constructive price action," he said, finishing with a statement: "Bulls are increasingly regaining firm control over price."
There may be several factors influencing the cryptocurrency's price surge, especially since Bitcoin's initial climb above the $60,000 mark happened around the time of the failed assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bitcoin has been climbing steadily since then, even until its break above $65,000.
However, it is interesting to note that, according to Coinglass, between the $60,000 breakout and the current price, there have been nearly $400 million worth of bearish liquidations.
The Bitcoin move to the upside might have been part of a larger strategy to collect liquidity, especially from traders who were betting on further price declines.
Moreover, Charles Edwards, the founder of Capriole Investments, observed in a recent tweet that Bitcoin's rise from $64,000 to above $65,000 came within minutes of the market opening at 9:30 am ET.
This means that institutional investors might now be increasingly viewing Bitcoin as a "safe haven" asset amid global tech system failures, like the recent IT collapse of the Microsoft CrowdStrike software between 18 and 19 July.
It appears that the bearish influence over Bitcoin is reaching an end.
At least according to insights from a recent tweet from QCP Capital.
In the post, the trading firm pointed out that the market was getting "rosier".
Furthermore, Bitcoin seems to be at the end of its post-halving "drawdown" and is showing incredible resilience despite the ongoing Mt Gox liquidations.
However, despite the "rosy" picture, analyst Michaël van de Poppe notes that Bitcoin’s price action has been down lately.
Moreover, the main drivers of the ongoing pump have been institutional investors.
Retail demand for Bitcoin has declined markedly since it reached its all-time high in March.
In essence, the bullish outlook for the cryptocurrency remains intact. However, Bitcoin's retail involvement needs to turn around before we see a sustainable bull run.
This echoes a 19 July post from Julien Bittel, head of macro research at Global Macro Investor, who sees a "crazy tight" Bollinger band formation and a Bitcoin cycle top between $140,000 and $190,000.
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