Bitcoin Could Stay Range-Bound Through Year-End, Bitget CEO Says

Bitget’s chief executive Gracy Chen has pushed back against expectations of a decisive Bitcoin breakout before year-end. Instead, she’s predicting that the asset will likely settle somewhere within US$10,000 (AU$13,952) to US$20,000 (AU$27,906) of its current trading range.

Appearing on Cointelegraph’s Trade Secrets podcast, Chen said calling whether Bitcoin finishes 2026 above or below the US$70,000 (AU$97,673) mark is no easy task, given how much sway monetary policy now holds over the asset’s trajectory. She believes that if interest rates climb further, the pressure on prices would likely follow.

“If any of that happens, the price should go down, at least theoretically”, she said, framing her outlook as the more cautious, “responsible” read rather than a bold directional call.

She based her insight on how deeply Bitcoin has become woven into mainstream finance. With institutional holders, exchange-traded products and corporate treasuries now accounting for a much larger share of ownership than in previous cycles, the asset has grown increasingly sensitive to the same forces that move traditional markets – chiefly interest rates and broader liquidity conditions.

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Chen’s forecast is broadly in line with sentiment on prediction platform Kalshi, where bettors are also leaning towards a period of consolidation rather than a sharp rally or sell-off. The two views suggest Bitcoin could spend the rest of the year moving within a relatively narrow range rather than making a decisive move in either direction. 

US Gov Not Buying BTC Soon, Says Chen

The Bitget executive also poured cold water on the idea that Washington might soon become an active Bitcoin buyer. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve set up under the Trump administration in March 2025 was built almost entirely from BTC already seized through law enforcement action – some 328,372 coins, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET – rather than assets purchased on the open market. Turning that reserve into a genuine accumulation programme, Chen argued, would mark a far bigger and more contentious policy shift than simply holding onto what the government already has.

“From a policy perspective, it’s probably unlikely”, Chen said. “I just don’t see it coming right now.” She placed the odds of such a move within the next two years as slim, even accounting for the administration’s broadly favourable stance toward digital assets.

Absent direct government purchases, Chen suggested the more consequential drivers for Bitcoin through the rest of the year will remain familiar ones: ETF inflows, corporate treasury accumulation, and shifting expectations around where interest rates head next.

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