This week Bitcoin felt a bit like it was pushing against the ceiling without quite breaking through. In dollar terms it moved from the low $113,000s early in the week to briefly poking above $122,000, before settling closer to $119,700 today. The pound chart showed the same shape, just with the numbers translated by the exchange rate. That spike toward the middle of the week came right after news that U.S. retirement plans could soon allow crypto allocations. It’s the kind of policy change that sparks big inflows, and sure enough there was a burst of institutional buying, including MicroStrategy quietly adding another 155 coins.

In pound terms the story looked much the same. Bitcoin price to the pound started the week just under £88,000 and climbed toward £95,000 at its peak before easing back to around £92,000. The move pretty much tracked the dollar chart with the pound’s own fluctuations adding only small shifts to the picture. Sterling’s was steady against the dollar and meant most of the action came from Bitcoin itself rather than currency swings, so UK traders were defintely riding the same wave as their U.S. cousins, just with different numbers on the screen.

Not everything was pure momentum though. A couple of technical analysts have been warning that the market is in a distribution phase, which is trader-speak for “there might be more sellers than it looks.” There’s also that looming futures gap on the CME charts, and history says gaps like that tend to get filled, which usually means a temporary pullback.

Macroeconomic noise didn’t help either. U.S. inflation data came in hotter than some hoped, and that can keep the Federal Reserve leaning cautious. A stronger dollar often means a little extra gravity on Bitcoin prices, especially if risk appetite cools.

So while the week was net positive, it wasn’t all straight up. There’s a real chance we see some chop before the next leg higher, and the next U.S. CPI report could be the thing that tips the balance. For now, it’s holding in that upper range, with traders watching for the next break.