In an interview, Peter Chung from Presto forecasts Bitcoin could hit $210,000 by 2025, driven by institutional adoption and liquidity growth. He believes recent market corrections will benefit future gains, while differentiating Bitcoin’s dual roles as both a risk asset and a safe haven during crises. Significant trends in liquidity and institutional trading suggest potential upward momentum, although he notes risks remain that could lower this projection.
In a recent interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Peter Chung from quantitative trading firm Presto expressed strong confidence in Bitcoin reaching a striking $210,000 by the end of 2025. He claims that Bitcoin is transforming into a safe haven asset, especially in tumultuous financial moments on the global stage. Notably, he firmly stated that their market outlook remains unchanged, emphasizing the potential catalyst of institutional adoption and ongoing global liquidity expansion for this forecast.
Chung elaborated that this price target isn’t just a lofty vision; it’s driven by substantial factors, including the increasing participation of institutional players. He mentioned that Presto’s valuation for Ether is closely linked to Bitcoin’s performance, relying on the ETH-to-BTC ratio, which they maintain at 0.05. This signifies their trust in the community’s efforts to resolve any value leakage in the crypto-space.
Addressing the year’s earlier price pullback, Chung maintained a positive view, asserting that it actually facilitated a necessary correction. He noted it cleared the way for Bitcoin’s potential re-charecterization as a mainstream asset going forward. Within Presto, he described the focus has been on understanding market stability and assessing how digital assets fit into portfolios. Their analysis concluded that despite the market fluctuations, the fundamental drivers of demand for Bitcoin remain intact.
The discussion turned to gold’s price spike in April, while Bitcoin seemed sluggish in response. Chung explained that Bitcoin has dual characteristics: it can act like digital gold during crises but behaves as a risk-on asset most of the time. Such duality surfaces predominantly in times of uncertainty about the resilience of the dollar-based financial system, with April seen as one such moment.
Highlighting the importance of global liquidity, which Presto monitors closely via major central banks, Chung stressed that liquidity growth is crucial. Although the U.S. has experienced a slowdown in money supply growth, regions like China and the eurozone have seen increases. This, according to Presto, could spill over into the crypto markets and shift capital flows.
Chung placed considerable weight on institutional trading trends, recalling how increased block trades in Bitcoin futures are indicative of upcoming potential rallies. He pointed out that over 7% of the total volume in Bitcoin perpetual futures transactions are now in block trades exceeding $10 million, a level last seen in late 2023.
Interestingly, while $210,000 for Bitcoin may seem ambitious, Chung argued this figure is actually prudent compared to historical benchmarks. He drew comparisons to the monetisation journey of the internet, which far surpassed $210,000 between 1994 and 2007. The target maintains a balance between risk and the practicalities of liquidity.
When pressed about potentially lowering this prediction, Chung laid out two major risks: a significant, lasting decline in global M2 could hurt overall market liquidity, and any severe governance or consensus failure within the Bitcoin network—though he noted such occurrences have never happened in Bitcoin’s fifteen-year history.
Absent these extreme scenarios, Presto interprets April’s downturn as a healthy “mid-cycle purge” that removed excessive leverage and set the stage for renewed growth. As Bitcoin has begun to rebound from its April lows, Chung questioned whether the asset could break the $100,000 barrier before year-end, suggesting that this will hinge on investors’ decisions about pricing geopolitical risks in their portfolios now or waiting for potential market shocks.
