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Bitcoin soars past $120,000 as analysts predict new all-time high by end of year

Friday’s price is a 97% jump from where bitcoin was a year ago.

10/3/25 11:15AM

bitcoin is up over 10% this week, crossing $120,000 for the first time since its previous all-time high record of over $124,000 on August 14. This is a 97% jump from where bitcoin was a year ago, hovering around $60,700.

John Haar, managing director at Swan Bitcoin, told Sherwood News that bitcoin’s rise this week is due to a confluence of factors, including the government shutdown causing fiscal uncertainty, highlighting the value of assets like bitcoin and gold.

“Over the longer term, with global debt at record highs and fiat currencies under pressure, bitcoin is increasingly seen as a liquid, non-sovereign reserve asset. We’re watching a shift from speculative trades to strategic allocations, and we believe this will push price beyond prior highs,” Haar said.

Analysts are also optimistic about bitcoin’s trajectory.

JPMorgan analysts expect bitcoin to hit $165,000 by year-end, driven by the acceleration of “the debasement trade,” with retail investors rushing to buy both gold and bitcoin ETFs, they said in a note. The debasement trade refers to a slew of macroeconomic factors, including “elevated geopolitical and policy uncertainty,” “waning confidence in fiat currencies in certain emerging markets,” and “persistently high government deficits across major economies,” the analysts wrote.

Meanwhile, Citi analysts gave bitcoin a 12-month price target of $181,000 in a note this week that also gave bitcoin a year-end price target of $132,000.

Finally, Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said the shutdown will be the primary driver of the impending all-time high.

“During the previous Trump shutdown (22 Dec 2018 to 25 Jan 2019) bitcoin was in a different place than now, so it did little. However, this year bitcoin has traded with ‘US government risks’ as best shown by its relationship to US treasury term premium,” he wrote in a note.

Bitcoin ETFs have amassed $2.25 billion in inflows since Monday. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust alone saw $466.5 million in inflows on Thursday, according to SoSoValue data.

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas wrote in a post on X that both IBIT and the SPDR Gold ETF were in the top 10 ETFs by volume Thursday, “which is rare, everyone wants in on The Debaser Trade I guess.”

In other bitcoin news:

MARA Holdings, the second-largest corporate bitcoin holder, increased its holdings to 52,850 bitcoin. In addition, it produced 736 bitcoin in September, a 4% month-over-month increase.
Riot Platforms announced its September production, with 445 bitcoin produced, compared to 477 in August, a 7% month-over-month decrease.
Cango also released its September production update. The bitcoin miner produced 616.6 bitcoin for the month, compared to 663.7 in August, a 7% month-over-month decrease.

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Justin Sun sues Trump-backed World Liberty over frozen tokens

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun, owner of the world’s most expensive banana, was named an adviser to World Liberty Financial the day after investing $30 million in the project. (He’d later boost that with $45 million more.) Sun has long been a supporter of President Trump, and has not once, but twice topped a competition to amass the most $TRUMP coins. But it seems even for Sun, the gold has turned brass.

Sun announced on social media that he’s filed a lawsuit in a California federal court against the crypto project backed by Trump.

The lawsuit alleges World Liberty engaged in an “illegal scheme to seize property” and “positioned itself as the new boogeyman” by stripping Sun of his governance rights, threatening to burn his WLFI tokens, and freezing his stash, which at times were worth $1 billion, according to the complaint dated on Tuesday.

“I have tried in good faith to resolve this situation with the World Liberty project team without resorting to litigation,” Sun wrote in a lengthy X post on Tuesday night. “But the project team has refused my requests to unfreeze my tokens and restore my rights as a token holder. They have left me with no choice but to turn to the courts.”

The complaint also alleged that World Liberty appears to be in financial trouble, citing concerns over whether the project can repay an on-chain loan that was collateralized by using, at the time, $5 billion worth of WLFI. The token reached an all-time low less than two weeks ago.

Despite the escalation with World Liberty, Sun said the lawsuit does not change his feelings about Trump or his administration. “I have always been — and remain — an ardent supporter of President Trump and his Administration’s efforts to make America crypto friendly,” he said.