Bitcoin Just Hit an Eye-Popping Record. Here's How High Experts Think It Could Go: 'Get Ready for a Wild Ride'

Key Points

• Bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $111,000 in overnight trading, marking a new milestone according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.
• Ryan Lee of Bitget projects Bitcoin could reach $180,000 by year-end, citing negative economic news and the U.S. credit rating downgrade as catalysts driving crypto demand.
• Alexander S. Blume warns that a drying up of OTC supply and rising corporate treasury demand could spark a “wild ride” as more investors seek Bitcoin outside centralized exchanges.
• Cryptocurrency expert Mark Sgambelluri describes Bitcoin as “digital gold,” emphasizing its fixed supply and blockchain-ensured uniqueness as key factors underpinning its value.

If you are kicking yourself for not buying Bitcoin when it was valued at about $100, prepare to kick yourself even harder. Bitcoin hit over $111,00 in overnight trading, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.

Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget, told Coindesk that he believes Bitcoin could hit $180,000 by the end of the year. He believes the negative economic news is a driving force.

"Moody's recent downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating to Aa1 is another key macro catalyst, sparking renewed interest in BTC and ETH as hedges against fiat risk. BTC's ability to hold above $103,000 amid volatility highlights the market's shift toward crypto as a strategic reserve asset," Lee said.

Related: Why Gold and Bitcoin Are the Go-To Safe Havens in 2025

Alexander S. Blume, founder and CEO of Two Prime, says it is all about supply and demand. "The OTC supply may be drying up, driving up prices," he told Coindesk. OTC, which stands for "over-the-counter," involves trading either directly or through broker-dealers rather than on a centralized exchange, according to Investopedia.

Blume continued: "This would not be reflected in exchange trading volumes or the derivatives market. If this is the case, get ready for a wild ride, as more demand is coming on board with a competitive bitcoin corporate treasury environment and, perhaps, a less elastic OTC spot market."

What makes Bitcoin valuable?

Cryptocurrency expert Mark Sgambelluri explains that Blockchain makes it so that every Bitcoin can only be held by one person at a time, making it an asset.

"Just like a Van Gogh is valuable because it is one of a kind and copies of it are worth nearly nothing, especially digital copies, each Bitcoin is intrinsically valuable because it can not be replicated, so it allows a digital asset to take on astronomical value," he wrote for Entrepreneur. "It is most similar to digital gold — gold is valuable because of its set supply and because you can transfer it. Bitcoin has a set supply and is even more easily transferred and stored."