On May 21, bitcoin price continued its ascent, reaching a new all-time high of $109,650. With a market cap of $2.158 trillion, the leading cryptocurrency is now officially world’s 5th biggest asset, after gold, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Apple.

Market sentiment is highly optimistic, with many analysts suggesting BTC is consolidating ahead of a potential new rally. 
Futures open interest has reached an eye-watering $74 billion, according to Coinglass, and BTC ETFs continue to attract significant inflows. As Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted, BlackRock’s IBIT has climbed into the top five ETFs by year-to-date flows, pulling in $9 billion —up from 47th place just a month ago. “It’s gone Full Pac-Man,” Balchunas noted, with a $6.5 billion surge in new inflows. Options markets are equally charged. More than 5,500 call contracts on Deribit are betting on Bitcoin reaching $300,000 by June 27, suggesting that traders are not just speculating—they’re placing high-conviction bets on a record-breaking rally.

As anticipation builds and a new rally in 2025 seems inevitable, the biggest question is: how high can BTC go?

Experts eye $200,000

The famous analyst Willy Woo said that “Once BTC properly breaks all time highs, the move to 118k will be very fast.” But other experts have higher objectives for the whole 2025 rally.

Bernstein analysts have expected Bitcoin to reach $200,000 by the end of 2025, citing a “new institutional era” for bitcoin adoption. The author of “Rich dad, poor dad” Robert Kiyosaki sees bitcoin in the $180,000–$200,000 range, while BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has called for $250,000. These predictions often lean on weakening confidence in US dollar and rising demand for politically neutral assets like bitcoin. Additionally, a number of technical patterns also point to a significant increase, especially in the $150,000 range. 

Golden cross points to $155,000

On May 21, bitcoin’s 50-day simple moving average (50-day SMA) reached its 200-day SMA for the first time since October 2024, forming the so-called golden cross. It is a bullish technical analysis pattern signalling that upward momentum is building and a new long-term uptrend may be starting.

Previous golden crosses led to 45%-60% BTC price rallies. In October 2024, Donald Trump’s reelection as the US president pushed the price to gain over 60%. In October 2023, the golden cross was followed by a 45% BTC price rally, helped by the Bitcoin ETF euphoria. September 2021 saw 50% gains in BTC price after painting a similar SMA crossover.

Currently, the fundamentals also lean bullish. A rising M2 money supply, improving US–China trade relations, and a weakening US Dollar Index (DXY) are all fueling bitcoin’s upward momentum. If the upcoming golden cross plays out like in previous cycles, BTC could climb toward the $155,000–$170,000 range.

Other technical indicators confirm such a setup.

Bull flag breakout points to $150,000

Bitcoin also recently confirmed a breakout from a bull flag on the weekly chart—a classic continuation pattern that forms after a strong price rally (the flagpole). It features a brief consolidation phase that slopes downward or sideways (the flag), followed by a breakout to the upside. The bull flag suggests the asset is pausing before continuing its upward trend, with a typical target equal to the height of the flagpole.

The flag had formed after Bitcoin topped near $110,000 in January and consolidated for several months. The breakout in early May came with rising volume, validating the move. Based on the flagpole’s height, the pattern points to a price target near $150,000.

Momentum indicators like the weekly RSI are also turning favorable, now holding above 65 and showing strong buying pressure without entering overbought territory. However, daily RSI at 75 signals that there may be a correction before bitcoin price climbs further.

Historically, summer has been a sluggish period for crypto markets.  As analyst Daan Crypto Trades noted, May has typically been a green month for Bitcoin (averaging over 8%), while June and September are often the worst-performing months.

However, this year, macro and political forces may shake up that trend. “As we get into the European summer months, the sense is it's more likely a case of 'buy in May and go away' than any significant headwinds or selling pressure,” said Paul Howard, director at crypto trading firm Wincent, in a market note cited by CoinDesk.