Bitcoin Is in Price Discovery—How Much Higher Will It Go?

Bitcoin to the moon? Some crypto data experts certainly think so. 

The price of Bitcoin is currently at $72,880, data from CoinGecko shows. Earlier on Wednesday, it hit another new all-time high price of over $73,600 per coin, continuing a recent string of upward surges.

The new heights are down to the continued success of the spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are receiving record inflows amid rising demand from traditional investors. Bitcoin is said to be in price discovery mode right now, which means that the cryptocurrency has reached an all-time high price and now is charting new territory.

When will it stop?

It’s still got a long way to go, experts told Decrypt. But just how high depends on various factors and which valuation model an analyst uses.

On-chain data firm CryptoQuant told Decrypt that by using its Bitcoin Metcalfe price valuation band, a metric that observes the number of users in the network, “the top cycle valuation here is $170,000.”

Bitcoin touching $170,000 per coin this year? Other reputable analysts have made similarly bullish claims—though not quite as high as that.

Global investment firm AllianceBernstein analysts, for example, said in a Monday research note that Bitcoin was likely to continue to soar due to the massive success of spot Bitcoin ETFs. 

Its price could hit $150,000 per coin by 2025, analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra argued. 

The reason, they said, was that IRAs, private banks, and traditional pools of capital such as sovereign wealth funds don’t yet have exposure to the new ETFs. But when they do, more capital will flood into the space. 

Bitcoin is also undergoing a big change in April: the halving. The event, which happens approximately every four years, will slash the rewards miners receive in half. Miners, which work using heavy-duty computer rigs to keep the network secure and mint new coins, will have to work even harder. 

As analysts have previously told Decrypt, the halving is bullish for Bitcoin because the rate at which new coins are created is slowed down. Less coins on the market means a higher price—if the demand is there.

Bulls have a point: After each previous halving, the price of the asset has increased massively in value—not immediately, but slowly—following the event. 

Markus Thielen, Head of Research at 10x Research, added that the U.S. presidential election this year will play a part, too: After previous elections, the coin has run up in price. This year, he added, the biggest coin could hit $125,000.

While Ro Shirole, Chief Commercial Officer at Saxet, said: “No one knows for sure due to numerous outside factors, however I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a high between $120,000 and $180,000 before the end of the year.”

He also said that some predictions are too bullish, adding that people were making predictions that the coin would hit $350,000 back in 2021.

At the end, all one can do is guess—anything can happen.

Bob Bodily, CEO of Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace Bioniq, told Decrypt that while the bull run looks good, “You can make guesses—like everyone really wants to do—and that’s about it.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward