Bernstein: Expect this bull market to be "long and grueling," with Bitcoin potentially reaching $200,000 by early 2026

July 14th, analysts at research brokerage Bernstein stated that they anticipate a "long and grueling crypto bull market" and reiterated their prediction that Bitcoin will reach $200,000 by the end of 2025 or early 2026.

The team of analysts, led by Gautam Chhugani, wrote in a report to clients: "Today, the market is driven not only by retail investors chasing highs, but also by institutional investor adoption. Our confidence in blockchain and digital assets is at an unprecedented level." They pointed out that this cycle is significantly different from previous retail-driven booms due to institutional-led growth, clearer regulation, and government support. Blockchain is building a new internet-native financial system—the stablecoin market is nearly $250000000000.00 in size and is initially being used for cross-border payments. Although there are only about 50000000 crypto wallet users, with banks and companies accelerating integration, it is expected to grow rapidly to hundreds of millions, and RWA is becoming the next major trend.

Regarding the evolution of the bull market, analysts believe that Bitcoin will continue to rise as a global hard currency reserve asset. Currently, Bitcoin ETF assets under management exceed $150000000000.00 (of which BlackRock's IBIT alone accounts for 84000000000.00), coupled with the continued increase in holdings by companies such as MicroStrategy, this structural allocation trend will drive Bitcoin towards the $200000.00 target. [BlockBeats]