Analysts mapped a slow-grind path for bitcoin and flagged $112,000 as the trigger while gold advocate Peter Schiff revived the gold-versus-bitcoin debate by challenging Michael Saylor’s BTC treasury bet for his firm.

CoinDesk Senior Analyst James van Straten said bitcoin’s market structure has shifted alongside gold’s repricing.

He expects a slow, stair-step advance supported by steady ETF inflows, with 10–20% pullbacks along the way. He compared the setup to gold in the early 2000s, when prices climbed for years but often paused for healthy corrections.

In his framing, bitcoin may sometimes lag gold and sometimes outperform it, yet he still sees bitcoin leading on total returns over a full cycle.

Michaël van de Poppe focused on near-term levels.

He called sub-$107,000 a buy zone, signaling where he thinks dip buyers are likely to step in. He also pointed to $112,000 as the ceiling to beat. A clean break and hold above $112,000 on UTC closes would, in his view, confirm strength and broaden risk appetite, the point at which flows often rotate into large altcoins. That is what he means by “altcoin mode.”

Euro Capital CEO Peter Schiff, meanwhile, challenged Michael Saylor’s strategy by contrasting Strategy’s bitcoin exposure with a hypothetical gold program.

His core claim is liquidity. He argued that tens of billions of dollars in gold could be sold with limited market impact, while trying to exit a similar bitcoin position could hit prices hard and set off copycat selling.

Supporters of bitcoin would counter that any large seller could stage exits over time and use over-the-counter channels, but Schiff’s point is that gold’s market depth offers more flexibility to very large holders.

CoinDesk Research analysis

• Window: Sept. 27, 09:00 UTC to Sept. 28, 08:00 UTC.
• What happened: According to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data model, bitcoin consolidated in about a $692 band (~1%), between $109,156.82 and $109,849.28.
• Support showed up: repeated holds near ~$109,400 late on Sept. 27 (UTC).
• Resistance formed: ~$109,750 capped rebounds in that same late-evening window.
• Final 60 minutes: between 07:09 UTC and 08:08 UTC on Sept. 28, price popped to $109,663.84 at 08:03 UTC, then settled near ~$109,580, turning ~$109,575 into fresh, short-term support.
• Read-through: Support ~$109,400–$109,575; resistance ~$109,750. A UTC close above ~$109,750 sets up $110,000–$111,000. Lose ~$109,400, and ~$109,150 is next.

Latest 24-hour and one-month chart read

• 24-hour context (as of Sept. 28, 14:41 UTC): price near $109,724 sits above ~$109,400/109,575 support and below ~$109,750 resistance. A break and hold above ~$109,750 (UTC) points to $110,000–$111,000, with $112,000 the broader momentum trigger many traders watch. A slip back under ~$109,400 risks a retest of ~$109,150, then ~$108,500.
• One-month context: after mid-September highs near ~$117,000, bitcoin has compressed into the $109,000–$112,000 area. Reclaiming and holding $112,000 would likely reignite upside momentum. Failing that, more sideways consolidation is the base case rather than a trend break on its own.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.