Bitcoin
Bitcoin has had a volatile ride in recent weeks amid Trump's trade war. Michael Förtsch/Unsplash

KEY POINTS

  • $BTC was trading below $103,000 as of late Wednesday but is only around 5% off from its all-time high
  • Back suggested it's strange that Bitcoin hasn't skyrocketed as much despite recent positive developments
  • A top Standard Chartered analyst has also said his Q2 price target of $120,000 is 'too low'

Bitcoin has made significant strides since late 2024 following U.S. President Donald Trump's electoral victory, but for a prominent blockchain pioneer and the inventor of the first Proof-of-Work system, the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency can go as high as $1 million this cycle.

Bitcoin cycles tend to run for a period of four years and for the current cycle before the next halving, Blockstream Founder and CEO Adam Back projects a potential price surge due to recent developments that affect the digital asset's price.

$BTC's Current Price Is Too Low: Back

In an interview with Decrypt published Wednesday, Back said the current prices of Bitcoin need to be higher.

As of late Wednesday, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency was trading below $103,000 following a low of $98,000 in the past week.

The digital coin's current trading price is off just 5% from its all-time high near $109,000, but Back expects the numbers to be higher as the cycle continues before the 2028 halving.

"I'm thinking this cycle could get quite high, but the cycle stretches out a few years, right? So, I was thinking $500,000 to $1 million, because there's a lot going on," he explained.

He went on to indicate that he thinks the current price of Bitcoin is strangely low, given the many changes crypto has gone through in the past few years.

Among the developments he specifically mentioned were the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) early last year, and the policies of the current U.S. administration that brought positive changes for the crypto sector, including Trump's executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

"There doesn't seem to be a clear logical reason to me for why we are only at $100,000. That's not very high given all of the things that are different compared to a couple years ago," the famed computer scientist pointed out.

Despite his questions around BTC prices, he projected that if the top crypto asset hits a new all-time high, "it could quickly become a lot higher."

Standard Chartered Analyst Apologizes for 'Too Low' $BTC Price Target

Back's comments came days after Standard Chartered Head of Digital Assets Research Geoff Kendrick apologized for his Bitcoin price target for the second quarter of 2025, which he set at $120,000 based on current developments around crypto.

"I apologize if my $120,000 Q2 target may be too low," Kendrick said in a recent interview, triggering talks of just how high BTC will go in the coming months.

It remains to be seen whether Bitcoin will fly as high as Back believes it can, but as of now, it is up 7% in the last seven days.

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