Bitcoin to Reach $500,000 by Decade’s End as ETF Demand Soars, Says Bernstein

The price of bitcoin is expected to skyrocket to $500,000 by the end of the decade, according to a recent report from Bernstein.

In an initiation note on MicroStrategy stock, Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra predict that bitcoin will rise 659% from Friday afternoon levels to reach half-a-million dollars by 2029.

The driving force behind this significant price increase is the surging demand for bitcoin ETFs, which have attracted billions of dollars in assets since their launch earlier this year.

This growing demand, coupled with a continuously decreasing supply of bitcoin, creates a favorable supply-and-demand dynamic that should keep the cryptocurrency’s price rising.

“This is driven by unprecedented Bitcoin demand ($190Bn AUM in 2025E vs. $60Bn today) through ETFs managed by the world’s leading asset managers, along with constrained Bitcoin supply,” Bernstein noted.

Chhugani and Sapra project bitcoin to reach $200,000 by 2025, $500,000 by 2029, and $1 million by 2033.

The analysts had previously estimated bitcoin would peak at $150,000 in 2025, but they have increased their projections due to strong ETF inflows.

The firm’s forecast was part of its note initiating coverage of MicroStrategy, which Bernstein describes as “building the world’s largest Bitcoin company.”

The firm rates MicroStrategy at “Outperform” with a $2,890 price target, representing a potential upside of 94% from Friday afternoon’s price.

MicroStrategy has accumulated 1.1% of the total bitcoin supply, an amount valued at approximately $14.5 billion. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy’s total market valuation stands at $26 billion.

Bernstein argues that MicroStrategy warrants a premium valuation as it offers investors an “active-leveraged” strategy compared to passive bitcoin ETFs.

“Over the last 4 years, MSTR’s active strategy has delivered a higher Bitcoin per equity share – BTC/share has grown 67% from 6 bitcoin per diluted share in Q4’2020 to around 10 today,” Bernstein stated.

Bitcoin traded just above $65,000 on Friday, about 12% below its record high of nearly $74,000.