Bitcoin Hits Record High: Experts Predict What Will Happen Next

Here we are again. Bitcoin has accelerated to a new all-time high of $118,856.47 — a dramatic and sudden breakout that means the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has doubled in value over the past year.

After trading in a relatively tight range for weeks, and stalling despite the S&P 500 smashing multiple records, BTC started to spike higher on Wednesday, meaning every person who’s ever bought this digital asset (and held onto it) is in profit.

The big question now is this: what’s going to happen next? Will Bitcoin be able to maintain this momentum over the summer? Or will the real “fireworks” happen in the latter part of the year? Cryptonews has your roundup of expert opinion.

For OKX Europe’s CEO Erald Ghoos, trading volumes just shy of $100 billion are a particular area of interest — against a backdrop of growing political support, enthusiasm from institutional investors, and a clearer regulatory landscape.

“Bitcoin’s surge to a fresh all‑time high isn’t just noise — it reflects its emergence as the ultimate digital macro hedge. Amid rising global trade tensions, looming tariffs and a policy‑driven liquidity backdrop, institutions, from corporate treasuries to sovereign funds, are treating BTC like a form of digital gold. With volatility at decade‑low levels and strategic ETF inflows accelerating, July is shaping up to be a defining moment. Bitcoin looks purpose‑built for it.”

That’s an interesting perspective from Ghoos. Generally speaking, Donald Trump’s tariffs have tended to drag BTC lower — such as in April, when the fallout from “Liberation Day” saw its price slide to lows of $75,000. With the president now beginning to impose new import taxes on a whole host of other countries, the exchange executive’s arguing that Bitcoin is now seen as an insurance policy.

Ryan Chow — the co-founder of the BTCFi platform Solv — agrees, and believes “Bitcoin’s structural role in global finance is being recognized.”

“What we’re seeing is Bitcoin stepping fully into its role as a hedge against inflation. With Trump’s tariffs driving further uncertainty across global markets, investors are reallocating into non-sovereign assets, and Bitcoin’s new all-time high reflects that shift.”

Chow went on to argue that BTC’s current standing in the global economy isn’t just significant because of rising prices.

“From CeFi to DeFi to TradFi, we’re witnessing the early signs of a Bitcoin that flows more freely than ever. Bitcoin won’t just move in price; it’ll move across systems.”

Meanwhile, Radix founder Dan Hughes told Cryptonews that the lack of an explosive move upward could be good for Bitcoin overall.

“The order of magnitude matters — past highs were doubling moves, huge psychological breaks. This? It’s steady, it’s measured, and honestly, that might be exactly what Bitcoin needs right now. The underlying rally isn’t retail FOMO this time. It’s institutional accumulation without the speculative froth. This ‘boring’ rally might be the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin’s long-term credibility.”

Just Get In. pic.twitter.com/0z1jwoyCLP

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) July 11, 2025

Of course, there are some analysts who are sounding the alarm right now. One of them is Bloomberg Intelligence’s Mike McGlone, who is notable because of how he had passionately argued — for years — that it was a “matter of time” before BTC vaulted into six-figure territory for the first time. He was ultimately proven right. In a recent note, he wrote:

“Bitcoin, the asset linked to the biggest-ever ETF launch and helped by the election of President Donald Trump, may now carry an unsustainable burden to keep rising, tilting favor toward gold … Our concern is Bitcoin has to keep going up, or deflationary dominoes could tumble.”

Bitcoiners have little time for doom-mongering or FUD right now — especially considering each record high is a source of vindication. After a slew of punishing bear markets, and media warnings that BTC was “dead,” this latest milestone proves they were right to believe in a decentralized currency.

Polymarket odds now suggest there’s an 80% chance that Bitcoin will breach $120,000 by the end of this month — falling to 22% odds of $130,000. Only yesterday, those odds were down at 30%.

And looking ahead to the rest of the year more widely, bettors believe there’s a 92% likelihood we’ll see $120,000 before 2025 draws to a close — with 69% odds for $130,000 and 43% for $150,000.

Put another way, there’s strong belief that this bull market still has plenty of room left to run.