Bitcoin to $200,000? Here’s what will drive the rally to another record price

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Hi! Eric here.

Bitcoin’s got everything going for it right now. The top cryptocurrency broke another record on Thursday and analysts are already anticipating that it won’t be long until it hits another all-time high.

Researchers at wealth management firm Bernstein, crypto index fund manager Bitwise, and UK bank Standard Chartered have all predicted that the price will hit $200,000 before the end of the year.

Arthur Hayes, a seasoned trader and crypto exchange BitMEX founder, has predicted that Bitcoin will rise as high as $250,000 this year.

There’s no shortage of bullish signals to support that optimism. Lawmakers in the US are rushing to introduce crypto regulations, exchange-traded funds are scooping up cryptocurrencies, and the Federal Reserve looks all but certain to cut interest rates in September.

At the same time, institutions are buying into blockchain-based businesses like never before, and venture capital firms are backing crypto projects.

Elsewhere, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that while the government won’t buy more Bitcoin, it won’t sell any that it already holds — thus reducing the risk of coins hitting the market and subduing the price.

It’s not just Bitcoin that has benefitted: The entire crypto market’s value has surged 20% to be worth over $4 trillion since the start of the year.

This week saw Ethereum come within spitting distance of breaking its 2021 record, Bullish raise $1 billion during its initial public offering, and the memecoin market regain some lost ground.

It’s not just crypto markets that have been in a celebratory mood of late. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 notched new record closes this week.

One interpretation of that is that markets are pretty much shrugging off the chaos caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Essentially, the idea is that every time you get a really spicy policy announcement coming out of the White House, traders are betting that “Trump always chickens out” — resulting in the so-called TACO trade, a name popularised by a Financial Times column.

And if market players are too comfortable, then they may end up being surprised when the president doesn’t back down, which could unleash a wave of volatility.

Depending on who you’re asking, that could either be good or bad for Bitcoin.

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Ethereum’s price inching towards a new all-time high has unleashed an extremely broad range of price predictions.