Last week marked a period of rapid growth for Bitcoin (BTC). After hovering below $110,000 for about two months, BTC surged on 11/7. The world's largest cryptocurrency set a new record of $118,856 on this day before slightly correcting to the $117,000-$118,000 range.

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that BlackRock's spot BTC ETF, IBIT, reached a significant milestone, closing on 10/7 as the fastest ETF to reach $80 billion in assets under management (AUM), surpassing other traditional exchange-traded funds. The second fastest ETF to achieve this was Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which took 1,814 days. Shortly after, Bitcoin quickly climbed to a new record high.

In an interview with CNBC, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management, stated that his company expects the price of BTC to exceed $200,000 by the end of this year. The primary reason is the recent surge in demand from financial institutions coupled with Bitcoin's limited supply.

Bitwise Asset Management is the world's largest cryptocurrency ETF manager. They provide cryptocurrency investment solutions for both individual and institutional investors, including ETFs, private funds, hedge funds, and separate asset management services. At the end of last year, they announced they were managing over $10 billion in assets with a team of over 90 experts.

According to analysts, the prediction of Bitcoin reaching $200,000 by the end of the year is ambitious but not impossible. The current BTC landscape leans towards a bullish trend, with various factors contributing to its potential for further growth.

Hougan's prediction is based on surging institutional demand and limited supply. As more institutions enter the market, the demand for Bitcoin is likely to increase, driving prices higher. The limited supply, capped at 21 million tokens, adds to the cryptocurrency's scarcity value, making BTC an attractive investment for those seeking to capitalize on its growth potential.

Stacked Bitcoin logos. Illustration: Reuters

Hougan isn't the only expert optimistic about the cryptocurrency's price. Gerry O'Shea, global market speaker at cryptocurrency management firm Hashdex, predicts the uptrend is "far from over." Hashdex believes new catalysts for the cryptocurrency market, including the influx of financial institutions, could push BTC's price to $140,000 or higher this year.

On the Kalshi derivatives market prediction platform, many investors are pricing Bitcoin at $141,000 by the end of this year. Observers are also placing their hopes on the US House of Representatives' announcement of next week as "cryptocurrency week," with a hearing on 16/7 titled "Making America the cryptocurrency capital of the world." Traders are anticipating concrete signals after months of regulatory silence.

However, the prediction of Bitcoin reaching $200,000 by the end of this year is met with skepticism by many industry experts. Some analysts argue that BTC's price is already at an all-time high and, as usual, the risk of a "shakeout" remains. In fact, on 10/7, when Bitcoin initiated its price surge, the market liquidated over $950 million in leveraged short positions across all exchanges. This is the largest single-day amount this year, according to data tracking platform CoinGlass.

Tieu Gu (according to CoinDesk, CNBC)