Most bitcoin price forecasts for 2026 are centered in the $150,000-250,000 range, according to WuBlockchain. This optimism is based on expectations of sustained growth in institutional investment, capital inflows through bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and positive regulation of the crypto market.
Other forecasters allow the price to fall to $10-70 thousand. This scenario may be caused by a slowdown in demand for the main cryptocurrency and deterioration of macroeconomic indicators, experts say.
The year 2025 was not the most successful for the forecasts of major players and analysts, assuming the growth of bitcoin price to $ 200 thousand in 2025: on December 30 bitcoin rate was about $ 88 thousand. Positive forecasts of many experts were far from reality.
Tom Lee, founder of Fundstrat and head of Bitmine, the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, expects $200-250 thousand by the end of 2026. His main argument is the increasing demand from institutional investors and capital inflows through ETFs.
JPMorgan Bank suggested that bitcoin’s “fair value” close to $170k will be reached within the next 6-12 months. This conclusion is based on a model of bitcoin volatility relative to gold.
The target level for bitcoin British bank Standard Chartered defined by the end of 2026 as $150 thousand. The bank maintains long-term optimism, but significantly reduced the forecast due to the weakening of the market and the slowdown in the inflow of funds into exchange-traded funds based on bitcoin.
Broker Bernstein has an estimate of $150k for bitcoin for 2026. In the long term, the company maintains a forecast of $1 million per BTC by 2033. They emphasize the importance of institutional demand and inflows into bitcoin-ETFs as the main drivers supporting future growth.
Conglomerate Citigroup’s base case scenario is at $143k for the next 12 months. The forecast is based on expectations of increased capital inflows into spot ETFs and progress on crypto market regulation in the US. Citigroup’s bullish forecast is at $189k, while the bearish scenario assumes a price of around $78.5k.
The founder of Bitmex, Arthur Hayes, indicated the probability of bitcoin growth in the range of $124-200 thousand. He argues his opinion by macroeconomic processes, as well as inflationary pressure, which will encourage investors to move to protective assets with limited supply, such as bitcoin.
Catherine Dowling, head of BSTR Holdings, which accumulates bitcoin as a reserve, expects $150k by the end of 2026. She cited regulation of the crypto market in the US, easing monetary policy and accelerating institutional investment as key drivers of growth.
Brad Garlinghouse, head of Ripple, which is developing the XRP crypto project, forecasts $180 thousand by the end of 2026. Lily Liu, president of Solana Foundation, expects a price above $100 thousand.
Without certain indicators, but with growth forecasts were made by the capital managers of Grayscale and Bitwise, who expect to update the historical maximum in the first half of 2026. And the head of the largest crypto exchange Binance Richard Teng predicts growth from current levels (about $88 thousand).
One of the largest analytical companies in the crypto market CryptoQuant predicts that due to weak demand, the price of bitcoin could fall to $56 thousand by the second half of 2026 and to $70 thousand in the range of three to six months.
Peter Brandt, a well-known technical analyst and trader in the crypto market, based on technical analysis, noted the risk of a deep correction to $25 thousand.
Mike McGlone, a senior commodities analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, voiced an extremely pessimistic scenario of a decline to $10,000. He argues that the risk is related to macroeconomic factors, tightening liquidity and a deep correction in speculative asset markets, which could trigger a larger cryptocurrency collapse.
There are also those who took a cautious neutral stance. British bank Barclays did not make a price forecast and expects the market to be weak in 2026 due to the lack of major catalysts.
The management company VanEck has a similar opinion: 2026 will be a phase of consolidation, suitable for accumulation strategies, without sharp price movements.
