Investors in reigning cryptocurrency champ Bitcoin (BTC) are having a pretty good week. As of the time of this writing, the crypto coin is up more than 8% this week and more than 6% in the last day alone. The token is now within reach of the psychologically important $120,000 threshold, which would be an all-time high. Here is a possible reason for Bitcoin’s recent all-time highs. Bitcoin’s rise to $120,000 As of the time of this writing, BTC is sitting at just above $118,000 per coin after hitting an earlier all-time high of $118,780.  At $118,000, Bitcoin is within striking distance of hitting $120,000 per coin, which would mark the first time in history that Bitcoin has reached that level. That threshold would represent a psychologically important barrier and could serve as a launchpad for Bitcoin to rise further in the months ahead. Today’s all-time high price is also notable because it is a reversal of fortune for the coin, which saw its value plummet to nearly $76,000 in April. Over the past year, the coin had gone even lower, falling to nearly $49,000 in August. But since its April 2025 lows, Bitcoin has been steadily climbing, and in the past week alone, the coin has jumped nearly 8%. But what’s behind its most recent gains? Institutional demand for Bitcoin is up It’s never possible to say with 100% certainty why Bitcoin rises or falls. So much of Bitcoin trading, like most asset trading, is based on fear or greed—powerful emotions fueled by myriad real-world factors. However, one of the reasons Bitcoin may be surging this week is due to institutional investors, notes Reuters. Institutional investors are group entities and differ from what are known as retail investors—individuals who invest in the stock market. Institutional investors include banks, hedge funds, pension funds, and other organizations that have tremendous buying power. And as Reuters notes, institutional demand for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has been surging lately as the digital tokens gain legitimacy as another arm of the economy, particularly after President Trump signed an executive order in March establishing a strategic cryptocurrency reserve.  Legitimacy increases demand for an asset, and so institutional investors are snapping the tokens up, leading to an increase in their value, based on the assumption that the coins will become a more important part of the financial sector going forward. As for where Bitcoin goes from here—no one knows for sure. Bitcoin, like most crypto assets, is highly volatile. The price can fluctuate widely over just a few days. Some Bitcoin proponents believe passing the $120,000 threshold could mean that the token is on its way to hitting $150,000. But whether that happens, or whether Bitcoin falls from here, is anyone’s guess.