People have been predicting bitcoin to hit $100K+ by the eoy and with 3.5 months left, we're nowhere close.
Don't be obsessed with numbers, everything you read is just speculation based on various models (which may not be accurate), or the opinions of various experts who want to get their 5 minutes of fame in the media. Since the last halving 2020, the price of BTC is on average about 7 times higher, which is more than impressive - and whether it will be $100k by the end of the year or maybe only $75k does not mean anything in the long run.
I don't think that was small investors who drove price up that fast, I think that was institutional money buying the fake news..
There’s a lot of truth here, big investors have a big impact on the market in the sense that they can create FOMO through their social networks as EM did, but they then drive masses of small investors who actually push the price of BTC up. As always, the rule is confirmed that those who have a lot of money and know how to use it, can influence public opinion, especially when it comes to cryptocurrencies that are very volatile.