Bitcoin’s price hit a new all-time high earlier this week, fueling fresh optimism among crypto analysts and industry leaders who now foresee even bigger gains for BTC in 2025.

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $118,000, hovering close to record levels and hinting at the possibility of another new high over the weekend.

On Friday, Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas shared on X that BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) achieved a major milestone, becoming the fastest ETF ever to reach $80 billion in assets under management (AUM). For context, the previous record-holder, Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO), took 1,814 days to reach the same AUM milestone.

Notably, this milestone coincided with bitcoin setting a fresh all-time high at $118,667.

Speaking to CNBC and Yahoo Finance, Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Management, expressed his firm’s bullish outlook, forecasting that bitcoin could surpass $200,000 before the end of this year.

Meanwhile, hedge fund manager James Lavish offered an even broader perspective, comparing bitcoin’s potential price ceiling to the U.S. debt ceiling, suggesting there may ultimately be no upper limit for BTC’s value.

Technical Analysis

• Bitcoin traded within a consolidation pattern over the 23-hour span from July 11 at 11:00 UTC to July 12 at 10:00 UTC, moving within a range of $1,633.46, or roughly 1% between a high of $118,226.29 and a low of $116,592.83, based on CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model.
• The most pronounced price activity occurred early in the period, particularly around 13:00 and 15:00 UTC on July 11. Elevated trading volumes above the 24-hour average of 7,291 accompanied sharp intraday swings, helping to establish key support near $116,726.00 and resistance around $118,226.00.
• Following this initial volatility, bitcoin stabilized, with trading volumes decreasing as BTC consolidated mainly between $117,400.00 and $117,900.00. In the final hours of the session, bitcoin regained strength, climbing back toward $118,025.00 and indicating a possible build-up of bullish momentum heading into the next trading day.
• In the last hour, from 09:57 to 10:56 UTC on July 12, bitcoin experienced heightened volatility. Prices dropped sharply from $118,121.16 to a low of $117,835.74 at 10:14 UTC before rebounding strongly, establishing a new consolidation zone between $118,000.00 and $118,070.00.
• The trading session showcased classic support and resistance dynamics, with significant volume spikes of 392.48 and 382.49 during the brief selloff around 10:12–10:14, signaling likely institutional activity. The swift recovery above $118,035.00 on lighter volume suggests underlying market strength and potential for continued upward momentum.