- Bitcoin is up 27% from its 2025 low of $74,500.
- Investors continue to yank Bitcoin off exchanges.
- Analysts predict a new all-time high before the second half.
Bitcoin is churning higher after the top cryptocurrency flipped the script on its dreary performance in 2025. Analysts say another rally is imminent.
Bitcoin traded above $94,000 on Wednesday, a 27% surge in the last month. And Geoff Kendrick, the head of digital assets research at UK bank Standard Chartered, predicts the asset is poised to hit a new milestone.
“I look for a fresh all-time high of $120,000 in the second quarter,” Kendrick wrote in a note on Monday. “Then, onto my $200,000 end-of-year forecast.”
There are numbers to back up the optimism. Kendrick said a confluence of factors will drive the gains, including accumulation by big buyers, or whales, and a rotation from gold to Bitcoin.
Data from crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant shows that investors have withdrawn almost $16 billion worth of Bitcoin from exchanges. Bernstein analysts note that the Bitcoin balance on exchanges has fallen to 13% of the asset’s circulating supply since December 2023.
Rising institutional demand via inflows into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds has also contributed to the supply squeeze. Last week, Bitcoin ETF flows almost reached $3 billion after two months of sluggish demand by investors.
As demand surges and supply evaporates, Bernstein analysts say it’s “hard to be bearish about Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin’s fundamentals might not be the only driving force.
US President Donald Trump’s bellicose flip-flopping on trade policies has upended the market. But Bitcoin has begun to show signs of resilience.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and CIO of investment fund Maelstrom, said Bitcoin won’t react much the next time Trump changes course on tariffs. Hayes is one of several market participants who say Bitcoin has decoupled from technology stocks.
Hayes said Bitcoin’s rebound from $74,500 since April 8 marked the bottom for the asset and that its price had entered “up only” territory, just like gold. He predicted that Bitcoin could go as high as $200,000 this year.
Traders are also showing signs of bullish bias and have begun to stack optimistic options bets for short-dated contracts. Options market data show traders are banking on a quick recovery for Bitcoin, with over $437 million in bets that will pay off if Bitcoin reaches $110,000 by June.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? Please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.
