VanEck Research Director: BTC is expected to reach $180,000 next year, but enterprise adoption is still insufficient

Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said on the Coin Stories podcast that Bitcoin could reach as high as $180,000 by 2025, citing key metrics such as funding rates, unrealized profits and retail speculation as the basis for this prediction. Sigel said VanEck has been "bullish on Bitcoin" since 2017. However, he believes that corporate adoption of Bitcoin still has a long way to go. He said that many traditional asset management companies, such as Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, are owned by banks and brokers and have been slow to incorporate BTC into financial strategies. Their heavily regulated structures and reliance on traditional asset allocation models, such as 60-40 portfolios, have not yet been adjusted to accommodate BTC ETFs. Sigel said it also shows that about 80% of BTC ETF holders are retail or high-net-worth investors who are either diversifying from self-custody or expanding existing positions. He added that institutional asset managers have not yet entered the field in a big way.