According to a report by Galaxy Research, 2025 is expected to bring significant growth and innovative changes to the cryptocurrency market, especially Bitcoin (BTC). These predictions are based on a comprehensive analysis conducted by the Galaxy team in late 2024, envisioning a future in which Bitcoin reaches unprecedented heights.
Bitcoin’s expected surge
Galaxy Research expects Bitcoin to surpass $150,000 in the first half of 2025 and potentially test or exceed $185,000 by the fourth quarter. This surge is expected to accelerate with a combination of adoption by institutions, businesses, and governments. Historically, Bitcoin has outperformed traditional asset classes such as the S&P 500 and gold, and this trend looks set to continue in the coming years. The report also predicted that Bitcoin would account for 20% of gold’s market capitalization.
Impact of US Spot Bitcoin ETP
Another important prediction from Galaxy Research is the growth of U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs). This is expected to total assets under management (AUM) exceeding $250 billion by 2025. This follows impressive net inflows of over $36 billion in 2025. In 2024, ETP will mark its most successful launch in history. Major hedge funds and investment committees including Millennium, Tudor and DE Shaw have already invested in these ETPs.
Institutional and sovereign adoption
Galaxy Research predicts that by 2025, at least five out of five Nasdaq 100 companies and five countries will announce the inclusion of Bitcoin on their balance sheets or sovereign wealth funds. This movement is expected to be driven by strategic, diversification and trade settlement incentives, along with competition between nation-states, especially those with significant sovereignty or those hostile to the United States, which is expected to fuel this trend.
Evolution of the Bitcoin Protocol
Agreement among Bitcoin developers on the next protocol upgrade is expected in 2025, which includes potentially significant improvements to transaction programmability. Although the exact upgrade may not be activated within the year, it is expected that consensus will be reached on opcodes such as OP_CTV (BIP 119) and OP_CAT (BIP 347), setting the stage for future protocol development.
Ethereum and DeFi Predictions
This prediction extends beyond Bitcoin, with Ethereum (ETH) expected to trade above $5,500 thanks to regulatory relief and new partnerships between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi). Ethereum staking ratio is expected to exceed 50%, increasing demand for staking and influencing network policy discussions. DeFi applications are also expected to distribute more than $1 billion in notional value to users and token holders, ushering in a new era of value sharing.
For more in-depth insights, you can view the full report on the Galaxy website.
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