BitMine President Tom Lee has apparently softened his widely touted year-end Bitcoin forecast of $250,000, now only giving a “maybe” to Bitcoin being able to reclaim its October all-time high of $125,100 before the end of the year.
“I think it’s still very likely that Bitcoin will break $100,000 before the end of the year, and maybe even hit a new high,” Lee said during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.
This appears to be the first time Lee has publicly softened his year-end Bitcoin (BTC) price target of $250,000, which he initially floated in early 2024 and continued to reiterate until early October.
Lee’s prediction was one of the most bullish. Other cryptocurrency executives, including Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, warned in October that “crazy things” would have to happen for Bitcoin to reach that level.
That said, Lee said some of Bitcoin’s strongest days may still be ahead before the end of 2025.
“I still think some of those best days will happen before the end of the year,” he said, with 35 days left until the end of 2025.
Bitcoin holders will have to keep guessing, says executive
Lee pointed out Bitcoin’s tendency to make most of its gains in a small number of trading sessions each year, noting that the asset typically “makes its move” in just 10 days a year.
The idea is widely shared among industry executives. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said in a February 2024 X post that while investors can’t predict when those days will be, missing Bitcoin’s best 10 days historically means missing out on almost all of your returns.
In 2024, Bitcoin’s 10 strongest days generated a combined return of 52%, while the remaining 355 days generated an average return of -15%.
Bitcoin has been in a bearish trend since October 10, pressured by a $19 billion sell-off across the cryptocurrency market that followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on Chinese goods.
It only recovered the $90,000 level on Wednesday after spending six consecutive days below it.
This is despite November historically being the strongest month on average for Bitcoin since 2013, according to CoinGlass.
Meanwhile, economist Timothy Peterson said Monday that Bitcoin may have already bottomed, or may occur, this week.
Lee has been hit and miss with his Bitcoin predictions
If Bitcoin fails to meet Lee’s prediction, it wouldn’t be the first time one of Lee’s Bitcoin forecasts has fallen short.
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In January 2018, Lee said that Bitcoin could reach $125,000 in 2022. The all-time high in 2018 ended up being $17,172.
However, Lee has also made accurate price estimates.
In July 2017, Lee projected that in a base case scenario, Bitcoin could reach $20,000 in 2022, while a more bullish outlook could see a potential price as high as $55,000 during the same period.
Bitcoin ended up reaching $20,000 in December 2020 and $55,000 in March 2021, according to CoinMarketCap.
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