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Bitcoin just crossed $100,000 for the first time. Wall Street sees $200,000 following soon.
Bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) cross above $100,000 has emboldened Wall Street bulls.
After Trump's election win catalyzed a crypto rally with hopes support of digital currencies and a more friendly regulatory regime would bolster the space, this week's push to record highs above $103,000 per bitcoin has some strategists looking for another doubling in price by the end of next year.
"We remain convinced $100,000 is not the final milestone," Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani wrote in a note on Thursday. "We expect Bitcoin to hit a cycle-high of $200,000 in late 2025,"
Ghhugani noted President-elect Donald Trump's pick of crypto advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, along with a broader regulatory direction under Trump 2.0, "is materially positive" for the wider crypto industry.
After bitcoin crossed $100,000 for the first time, Trump took to social media to congratulate crypto investors, adding, "YOU'RE WELCOME!!!"
"As crypto becomes mainstream, it will likely converge and transform capital markets and change the way we deliver financial services across the world," Ghhugani wrote.
"We expect Bitcoin to emerge as the new-age premier ‘store of value’ asset eventually replacing Gold over the next decade and becoming a permanent part of institutional multi-asset allocation and a standard for corporate treasury management," he added.
At UK-based Standard Chartered, analysts noted bitcoin flows have been dominated by institutional investors this year, with institutions buying 683,000 tokens year to date via spot ETFs along with big purchases by software firm and bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy ( MSTR ).
About a third of those inflows, or the purchase of 245,000 bitcoins, have occurred since the presidential election.
"In 2025, we expect institutional flows to continue at or above the 2024 pace," wrote Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.
Kendrick expects global pension funds to increase their spot ETF holdings as expected regulatory changes from the Trump administration make it easier for traditional investors to increase their exposure to digital assets.
"Against this backdrop, we think our end-2025 BTC price target around the USD 200,000 level is achievable," Kendrick wrote.
Bitcoin has rallied almost 130% year to date and roughly 45% since Trump's White House victory in November. Investor optimism accelerated last month after the SEC announced Chair Gary Gensler will step down on Jan. 20, 2025.
And even before Atkins's nomination was announced on Wednesday, bitcoin bulls were confident that whoever Trump chose to lead the SEC would pursue crypto-friendly rules.
"We assume in our analysis [that] the price of bitcoin will reach $225,000 by the end of 2026," he said.
In the near term, bitcoin bulls also see buying opportunities during any pullbacks in the coming weeks.
At the start of 2024, Fundstrat analysts called for a target of $115,000 by year-end.
"I think we probably take that out over the next couple of weeks, maybe even work up to $120,000," Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat, told Yahoo Finance on Thursday.
"Moving into next year, I think there are a lot of structural tailwinds for the cycle to continue."
@ines_ferre .