This illustration taken on November 25, 2024 shows the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
Dado Ruvik | Reuters
Following Bitcoin’s meteoric rise this year, crypto investors and industry executives told CNBC they expect the flagship cryptocurrency to reach a new all-time high in 2025.
In December, the world’s largest cryptocurrency hit the long-awaited $100,000 mark, setting an all-time high above it. This came after Donald Trump, who ran on a prominent platform of support for crypto policies, secured a historic victory in the November election.
With Trump’s impending return to the White House, sentiment surrounding cryptocurrencies is changing as many industry executives and analysts expect him to promote a more favorable regulatory environment for digital assets. is increasing.
During his campaign, Trump vowed to replace incumbent Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who has taken aggressive legal action against various crypto companies. Gensler has agreed to resign from the SEC in 2025.
President Trump also suggested that the United States may establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve by pooling funds obtained through criminal seizures.
Also in 2024, Bitcoin surpassed a 2021 price milestone of nearly $70,000 after the SEC greenlit the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.
ETF approval was widely seen as a key moment in broadening the appeal of cryptocurrencies to more mainstream investors.
Another key moment in 2024 is the halving, which occurs every four years and reduces the supply of Bitcoin to the market. This is typically very supportive of Bitcoin prices.
These developments have helped cryptocurrencies overcome an industry saga marred by scandals. This became a major theme in 2023 after two of the most prominent figures in the crypto industry, FTX’s Sam Bankman Freed and Binance’s Qiao Changpeng, were sentenced to prison on criminal charges.
This year, the price of Bitcoin has more than doubled. The token is widely expected to rise further in price in 2025, with some industry watchers predicting its value to double to $200,000.
Coin share: $80,000-$150,000
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, an asset management firm specializing in cryptocurrencies, told CNBC that he expects Bitcoin to be priced at both $150,000 and $80,000 in 2025.
Butterfill said it’s not “unreasonable” to expect Bitcoin to be worth about 25% of gold’s market share (compared to about 10% today) over the long term. That equates to a price of $250,000.
But he doesn’t think that will happen next year. “However, the timing of this is very difficult and we don’t expect it to happen in 2025, but it will be heading in that direction,” Butterfill told CNBC via email.
He said it is “possible” that Bitcoin will reach both $80,000 and $150,000 by the end of the year.
If Butterfill’s request for $80,000 goes through, it would mean that Trump’s pro-cryptocurrency policy has not materialized.
“Disappointment with President Trump’s crypto policy proposals and doubts about their enactment could prompt a significant market correction,” Butterfill said.
Butterfill expects the favorable regulatory environment in the US to be the main factor supporting Bitcoin prices next year.
In 2023, CoinShares expects the Bitcoin price to reach $80,000 in 2024.
Matrix Port: $160,000
Cryptocurrency financial services firm Matrixport said that Bitcoin could reach $160,000 by 2025.
“This outlook is supported by sustained demand for Bitcoin ETFs, favorable macroeconomic trends, and expanding global liquidity pools,” Markus Thielen, head of research at Matrixport, told CNBC in an email. ” he said in an email.
Bitcoin is known to be highly volatile and can correct by 70% to 80% from its all-time high. Thielen said the drawdown in 2025 will be “less significant.”
Thielen said: “We expect the severe correction to ease due to the growing number of Bitcoin buyers and strong institutional support.”
Matrixport predicted in 2023 that Bitcoin would reach $125,000 in 2024.
Galaxy Digital: $185,000
Alex Thorne, head of research at Galaxy Digital, an asset management firm specializing in cryptocurrencies, predicts that Bitcoin will exceed $150,000 in the first half of this year and reach $185,000 in the fourth quarter. .
“A combination of institutional, corporate, and nation-state adoption will take Bitcoin to new heights in 2025,” Thorne said in a research note shared with CNBC.
“Throughout its existence, Bitcoin has risen faster than all other asset classes, especially the S&P 500 and gold, and that trend will continue into 2025. Bitcoin will also reach 20% of gold’s market capitalization. I guess.”
Galaxy predicts that total assets under management for Bitcoin spot trading products in the United States will exceed $250 billion in 2025.
The company expects five Nasdaq 100 companies and five countries to add Bitcoin to their balance sheets or sovereign wealth funds next year.
Standard Chartered: $200,000
Standard Chartered’s Jeffrey Kendrick is calling for the price of Bitcoin to double. The bank’s head of digital asset research said in a note earlier this month that he expects Bitcoin to reach $200,000 by the end of 2025.
Standard Chartered expects institutional investor inflows into Bitcoin to “continue at or above the pace of 2024” next year.
According to the bank, Bitcoin inflows from financial institutions have already reached 683,000 BTC since the beginning of the year, the majority of which was purchased by MicroStrategy, a software company and effective Bitcoin agency. It is said to be through ETFs.
Kendrick said MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin purchases next year should be “equal to or greater than its 2024 purchases.”
Also, thanks to expected reforms by the incoming Trump administration to regulations on so-called “TradFi” (traditional finance) companies that invest in digital currencies, pension funds will be able to add more bits to their portfolios through US spot ETFs next year. He added that it should start incorporating coins.
Kendrick pointed out that “even a small allocation of USD 40 trillion to US retirement funds would cause BTC prices to rise significantly.” “We would be even more bullish if BTC were captured more rapidly by US retirement funds, global sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), or potentially US strategic reserve funds.”
Carol Alexander: $200,000
Carol Alexander, a finance professor at the University of Sussex, believes we could see a $200,000 Bitcoin next year.
Alexander told CNBC that he’s “more bullish than ever heading into 2025,” adding that Bitcoin’s price “could easily hit $200,000, but there’s no sign of volatility slowing down.” added.
“I expect it to trade around $150,000 plus or minus $50,000 by the summer,” Alexander said, noting that he doesn’t actually own any Bitcoin himself.
Explaining his rationale, Alexander said that while supportive regulation in the US will boost Bitcoin, the lack of regulation on crypto exchanges will continue to push prices up and down on highly leveraged trades. He said volatility would increase.
Alexander has a history of correctly calling the price of Bitcoin. Last year, she told CNBC that Bitcoin would hit $100,000 in 2024, and she was right.
Bitmining: $180,000 – $190,000
Bitmining chief economist Youwei Yang predicts that the price of Bitcoin will reach between $180,000 and $190,000 in 2025, but is also wary of the possibility of the price falling.
“Bitcoin prices in 2025 are likely to see both significant upward momentum and occasional sharp corrections,” Yang told CNBC. “In the moment of a market shock, such as a significant decline in the stock market, Bitcoin could temporarily fall to around $80,000. However, the overall trend is expected to remain bullish. ”
Factors underlying Bitcoin’s expected rally in 2025 include lower interest rates, support for President Trump, and increased adoption by institutional investors.
“Based on these trends, I predict Bitcoin could peak at $180,000 to $190,000 in 2025. This is consistent with an increase in adoption,” Yang said.
Nevertheless, Yang also predicts that the next year will bring a number of “corrections” to Bitcoin’s price.
Downside risks include U.S.-China tensions, global capital market turmoil, the possibility of unexpected restrictive measures, and a potential delay in the Fed’s rate cutting cycle.
Last year, Yang predicted that Bitcoin would reach $75,000 in 2024.
Maple Finance: $180,000 – $200,000
Sid Powell, CEO and co-founder of centralized finance platform Maple Finance, aims to drive the price of Bitcoin between $180,000 and $200,000 by the end of 2025.
“If you look at the emergence of gold ETFs historically, the first-year inflows have increased dramatically in subsequent years, and we’ve seen that with Bitcoin ETFs,” Powell said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.” You can expect to see it.”
“We will see even more inflows in the coming years as Bitcoin, and indeed cryptocurrencies, become a core asset allocation for institutional investors,” Powell added.
Another factor that Powell sees pushing up Bitcoin prices is expectations for Bitcoin strategic reserves in the United States.
Still, Maple Finance’s president is wary of a market pullback. “Obviously I think we’re going to see a correction. Crypto remains a cyclical industry,” Powell told CNBC.
In previous market cycles, Bitcoin would rise significantly for several months before plummeting in value.
For example, let’s look at the previous cycle. In 2021, Bitcoin rose to nearly $70,000 as more and more investors flocked to it, but the following year, the token dropped below $17,000 on the back of a series of bankruptcies of major cryptocurrency companies. It plummeted to
However, Powell emphasized that the 70% to 80% drawdown Bitcoin has seen in previous cycles is unlikely to occur in 2025. “Because there is an additional buffer from institutional investor inflows into the sector.”
Nexo: $250,000
Elitza Taskova, chief product officer at crypto lending platform Nexo, is more bullish on Bitcoin’s outlook for 2025 than the general consensus.
“We see Bitcoin doubling to more than $250,000 within a year,” Tascova told CNBC. He added that he expects it to exceed.
“These predictions are consistent with ongoing trends and societal indicators, including increased recognition of Bitcoin as a reserve asset, growth in Bitcoin and crypto-related exchange traded products (ETPs), and increased adoption. ” said Nexo’s head of product.
He added that supportive macroeconomic conditions, such as easing of monetary policy by the world’s major central banks, are likely to boost Bitcoin.
“The Fed’s balancing act to manage interest rates and inflation while avoiding stagnation will be critical,” he said, adding that sustained inflation could prompt a more hawkish shift. I warned you.
“With the US leading the way in crypto-related capital deployment, interest rate decisions and inflation trends are likely to continue to have a significant impact on Bitcoin prices in 2025.”
