As 2025 draws to a close, industry insiders, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, have shared their predictions for the trajectory of Bitcoin’s price in 2026.
Popular crypto media outlet Wu Blockchain highlights the widening credibility gap in Bitcoin price predictions in its latest analysis.
The report found that financial institutions’ forecasts for 2025 generally failed to predict how the market would develop this year. He emphasized that the predictions missed both the magnitude of Bitcoin’s price movements, as well as the timing, volatility, and depth of drawdowns. This failure helped undermine market confidence in the price target story.
Notably, investors are increasingly treating price forecasting as scenario analysis rather than promise-like guidance. Rather than pinning expectations to a single number, market participants are now concerned with underlying assumptions, macro conditions, and structural factors.
Bitcoin price prediction for 2026
Despite waning confidence in precise Bitcoin price targets, industry leaders and major institutions continue to outline a clear framework for BTC’s 2026 outlook. Overall, the report divides these predictions into two broad camps: bulls and bears.
bullish prediction
On the bullish side, predictions are mainly centered between $150,000 and $250,000, suggesting a potential return of 72% to 186% from Bitcoin’s current price of $87,279.
Prominent proponents of this view include Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse ($180,000), Fundstrat’s Tom Lee ($200,000-250,000), BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes ($200,000), and BSTR president Katherine Dowling ($150,000).
Additionally, major financial institutions such as Standard Chartered, Bernstein, and JP Morgan have similarly shared optimistic forecasts, with targets set at $150,000, $150,000, and $170,000, respectively.
Meanwhile, asset management firms Grayscale and Bitwise still expect Bitcoin to reach new all-time highs next year, although they did not mention specific targets.
Notably, there are several common factors that support these bullish predictions. These experts point to increased regulatory transparency, increased allocation to institutional investors, deeper penetration of spot Bitcoin ETFs, and a possible shift to friendlier monetary policy as further upside factors.
Bitcoin predictions for 2026
bearish outlook
In contrast, bears have warned that Bitcoin could face significant downward pressure in 2026, pushing the price well below $100,000.
For example, CryptoQuant claims that Bitcoin may already be entering a bearish phase. Analysts have identified $70,000 as a key downside level, suggesting a deeper decline toward $56,000 could develop if demand continues to weaken.
Similarly, veteran trader Peter Brandt argues that given long-term historical patterns, Bitcoin’s exponential growth is fading, increasing the risk of an even sharper correction towards $25,000.
Taking the most extreme position, Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Mike McGlone warns that post-inflationary deflationary macro forces could trigger a severe mean-reversion cycle that could send Bitcoin down to $10,000.
On the other hand, financial institutions such as VanEck and Barclays completely avoid disclosing specific stock price targets. Nevertheless, they warn that 2026 could be a year of consolidation or transition rather than a period of explosive growth for Bitcoin.
