Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe has made a bold prediction, forecasting that the price of Bitcoin could reach $500,000, with Ethereum’s soaring past $20,000 in the coming years.

His outlook, supported by macroeconomic trends and growing institutional adoption, suggests that the crypto market is on the cusp of an unprecedented rally.

Overcoming ‘Bear Market PTSD’

Market sentiment is currently quite low following one of the biggest daily sell-offs in crypto history, which saw more than $400 billion wiped off in less than a day. However, while Van de Poppe acknowledges the bearish outlook, he argues that the market is primed for a major bull run.

According to him, a “perfect storm” is brewing, fueled by growing institutional adoption and the U.S. government’s more tolerant stance on crypto. This includes a proposal for a national digital asset stockpile. Additionally, institutions are launching crypto products providing greater market access and banks have been given the leeway to offer custody services following the SEC’s revocation of SAB 121.

Van de Poppe admitted that many investors were skeptical, still haunted by past downturns, a phenomenon he called “bear market PTSD,” which makes it hard for traders to believe in a long-term uptrend. Nonetheless, he argued that Bitcoin and Ethereum’s trajectories should not be judged by past cycles alone, especially given their increasing global adoption and the ongoing influx of institutional capital, including millions spent on crypto by an organization linked to U.S. President Donald Trump.

A shifting macroeconomic landscape could also boost crypto’s explosion. The analyst suggests that China’s economic strategy to deal with Trump’s new tariffs could create the perfect condition for altcoins to thrive.

In his opinion, the Asian giant has two options to counter the U.S.: devalue its currency to continue exporting products into the United States or focus on its own domestic market to become stronger. If it chose the second option, it would mean selling its dollar reserves, buying back the renminbi, and making it solvent.

Such a situation, in Van de Poppe’s opinion, would cause the dollar to lose some of its strength, and a weaker dollar coupled with lower yield bonds often leads to increased capital flow into digital assets.

Exponential Gains

Taking everything into consideration, Van de Poppe outlined two likely possibilities. In the blow-off top scenario, he envisions a rapid bull run, similar to the dot-com boom of the ‘90s, which could see BTC shoot up to anywhere between $300,000 and $500,000 before a sharp correction.

Ethereum would follow suit and could climb past $20,000 with the acceleration of institutional adoption, potentially powered by its new marketing initiative, Etherealize.

The second option would be an extended supercycle, leading to a slower but self-sustaining rally that could drive Bitcoin’s value towards $1 million over the next few years. ETH would also benefit from taking advantage of the expected growth of layer-2 networks and institutional DeFi integration to push to $30,000.