Alt: Bitcoin saw turbulence through 2025, but long-term trends point to resilience and outperformance against key assets
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is poised to end the year lower (unless a miracle occurs), as bullish momentum faded into bearish fear in the final quarter of 2025. But if we zoom out, the leading cryptocurrency’s growth trajectory looks impressively strong.
Bitcoin’s Plunge in 2025
Bitcoin’s journey in 2025 has been like a roller coaster, with the price falling from a high of $126,000 in October to a low of $80,000 and currently consolidating in the $86,000-$90,000 range.
The top cryptocurrency wiped out all its 2025 gains during the last crisis and is currently trading more than 30% below its all-time high.
The slump crushed expectations, and how. Bitcoin is down 23% in the fourth quarter, which has historically delivered an average return of more than 77%.
This period also saw a resurgence in Bitcoin obituaries – instances where critics declared the end of the top cryptocurrency. No fewer than nine such obituaries surfaced in the fourth quarter, according to to Bitcoindeaths.com
See also: Strategy CEO Says Major Banks Are Making Efforts to Build Bitcoin Services
A decade of dominance
While Bitcoin didn’t have the best of 2025 in 2025, it remains the top asset over the past decade, surpassing gold and stock benchmarks like the S&P500.
| Possess | 2-year gain +/- | Profit over 5 years +/- | 10 year profit +/- |
| Bitcoin | +101% | +240% | +20.448% |
| Gold | +119% | +139% | +318% |
| S&P500 | +45% | +85% | +235% |
Another way to assess an asset’s resilience is how well it recovers from a cyclical trough.
During the cryptocurrency winter of 2022, Bitcoin crashed to a low of $16,000. However, the price remained stable, weathered market volatility and is up more than 440% since then.
What are the bullish catalysts?
Beneath the surface volatility, Bitcoin has received significant mainstream validation. According to SoSo Value institutional inflow in exchange-traded funds have surpassed $57 billion, with total assets under management of $114 billion.
Regulatory tailwinds could also boost assets in the near term as discussions on the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, aimed at establishing clear rules for the sector in the US, progress.
What experts predict for 2026?
Tom LeeWall Street veteran and Fundstrat analyst predicted that Bitcoin would reach new all-time highs by the end of January and could surpass $250,000 within months. He also said that “the best years” of the cryptocurrency market are ahead of us.
Grayscalea leading digital asset management company, reiterated this prediction, stating that Bitcoin could surpass its previous high in the first half of the year.
It’s worth pointing that out Sean FarrellFundstrat’s head of digital asset strategy, made a contrasting prediction to Lee, indicating that assets could return to the $60,000-$65,000 level by early 2026.
In the meantime, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said Bitcoin still has more “healing to do” and warned against turning bullish unless the asset breaks $100,000. However, he expressed confidence that Bitcoin has not yet reached its all-time high and that the belief system is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
Price promotion: At the time of writing, BTC exchanged hands at $89,140.29, up 6.02% in the past 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Photo courtesy: vinnstock on Shutterstock.com
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