Analyst predicts next big crash for Bitcoin as markets rally

Bitcoin (BTC) has often been referred to arsenic "digital gold" due to the fact that of its scarcity and decentralized nature.

Like gold, Bitcoin cannot beryllium arbitrarily created and its proviso is capped astatine 21 cardinal coins. This makes it resistant to ostentation and authorities manipulation.

It was during the 2013 bull tally and particularly aft the 2020 macroeconomic situation that the word became much prominent. Institutional investors started treating Bitcoin arsenic a hedge against monetary debasement.

However, for Stifel's Barry Bannister, that communicative is nary longer holding immoderate truth.

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After past week's monolithic crash, Bitcoin has been dilatory making its mode backmost up. But the gait is not steady.

At property time, Bitcoin was down by 0.8% successful the past 24 hours and was trading at $68,460.84. This is implicit 57% little than the highest it reached successful October 2025.

Bannister, who is Stifel Financial Corp’s (SF) main equity strategist, said successful an interrogation with CNBC connected Feb.9 that Bitcoin (BTC) was not behaving similar “digital gold."

"Bitcoin is not integer gold. When you deliberation astir gold, erstwhile it does good and erstwhile it does best, historically, it's due to the fact that of higher-than-expected ostentation with little growth, fundamentally stagflation. But Bitcoin truly behaves much similar a high-liquidity-driven speculative fiscal instrument, much similar a large tech stock."

Bannister pointed to a displacement successful however Bitcoin reacts to macro signals. Bitcoin tended to emergence erstwhile the U.S. dollar weakened.

“For 15 years, Bitcoin would spell up erstwhile the dollar went down. Now the dollar goes down, and Bitcoin besides goes down with it.”

Bannister besides framed Bitcoin arsenic a liquidity-driven commercialized alternatively than a antiaircraft asset. He said that crypto, for the astir part, represented a stake connected the eventual downfall of the dollar. He described it arsenic a benignant of libertarian dream, but added that helium did not judge the dollar was going away.

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Last week, Stifel analysts predicted a imaginable descent successful Bitcoin's terms to $38,000.

When asked astir the target, Bannister pointed retired astatine the humanities patterns of Bitcoin.

"We’ve had 3 large drawdowns successful 15 years, and each 1 stopped astatine astir the aforesaid constituent connected a illustration successful percent terms, with a flimsy summation successful angle. That came retired to beryllium astir 38,000 to 40,000. Just clasp connected and beryllium careful."