As of late Monday, bitcoin was higher by 7% over the past week and trading around $72,600. Impressive short-term action to be sure, and those gains add to what’s been a remarkable year-to-date rally for the largest digital currency.
In what could be good news for the cryptocurrency and the recently launched spot bitcoin ETFs, some analysts believe there’s more in store regarding upside. A lot more. While it has been subject to an array of audacious forecasts over its life span, some are plausible, some not so much, and some are in the middle.
One such digital currency forecast that is arguably reasonable, depending on an investor’s risk tolerance, arrives courtesy of Bernstein. The research firm believes that on the back of the recent rally, the cryptocurrency can ascend to $150,000 by the middle of 2025, meaning it would more than double from current levels.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Helping the Cause
Perhaps not surprisingly, spot bitcoin ETFs, including the VanEck Bitcoin ETF Trust (HODL), Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO), WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), are contributing to upside for the cryptocurrency and could play pivotal roles in potentially making Bernstein’s $150,000 forecast a reality.
“These are still early days of Bitcoin’s integration into traditional asset portfolios,” according to Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra. “We are now more convinced about our $150K price for Bitcoin.”
Specific to the spot bitcoin ETFs, Bernstein estimates inflows will reach $10 billion this year before swelling to a $60 billion in 2025. That $10 billion forecast could move higher because it already appears conservative when considering inflows to U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs were about $9.5 billion entering this week.
In what could be good news for ETFs such as the Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF (SATO) and the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), Bernstein views crypto-correlated stocks, including bitcoin miners, as among the top ways to play the cryptocurrency’s potential ascent to $150,000.
“We believe bitcoin miners are still largely retail-traded stocks and institutions have largely stayed away from bitcoin proxies, as traditional investors remain skeptical and still approach crypto with a rear-view bias,” added the analysts. “With bitcoin climbing new highs of $71K, we expect institutional interest in bitcoin equities to finally tip over, and bitcoin miners to be the largest beneficiaries.”
They acknowledged that being long miners might demand more patience than direct ownership of the cryptocurrency.
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