When Bitcoin (BTC +0.03%) hit a new all-time high of $111,970 on May 22, many investors were convinced that the world's most popular cryptocurrency was about to go on another epic run. But that hasn't been the case.
In fact, Bitcoin pulled back to $105,000, and could even fall below $100,000 again. Should investors be concerned?
Bitcoin's volatility
For much of its history, Bitcoin has been a very risky and volatile asset. In its early days, volatility was sky-high, and the price of Bitcoin tended to move up and down in jagged spikes.
However, Bitcoin is becoming less volatile over time. All you have to do is look at a chart of Bitcoin's volatility over the past decade. The change in volatility in recent years is striking.
According to data from CoinGlass, a cryptocurrency information site, Bitcoin's 30-day volatility during the previous crypto bull market rally of 2020-2021 ran as high as 9%. However, Bitcoin's volatility has been declining over the past two years. In May 2025, Bitcoin's 30-day volatility dipped below 2%.
Image source: Getty Images.
This might be surprising, especially given this year's news cycle around trade, tariffs, and U.S. macroeconomic policy. Most investors likely assume that Bitcoin has been wildly volatile over the past five months, but that simply hasn't been the case.
And there's a good reason for this: Bitcoin is going increasingly mainstream. The more institutional investors and corporations line up to buy Bitcoin, the less volatile it will become over time. Short-term, speculative money is being crowded out by long-term, buy-and-hold money.
Thus, there's less reason to be worried about Bitcoin's recent pullback than there might have been in the past. By now, everyone realizes that Bitcoin is not going to zero. The prudent strategy now is to view Bitcoin as a long-term investment that will soar in value over the next decade.
Buy the dip
If anything, the pullback in Bitcoin is a signal to buy more, at a lower price. In crypto parlance, this is known as buying the dip. Any time Bitcoin falls by 10% or more, the thinking goes, you should scoop up Bitcoin at a new bargain price.
And, by and large, that is what has been happening this year. The easiest way to see this is with investor inflows into the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While there was a brief period in April when Bitcoin inflows slowed to a halt and then reversed, money is once again flowing into the Bitcoin ETFs.
CRYPTO: BTC
Key Data Points
One big narrative that has emerged in 2025 is the willingness of both retail and institutional investors to buy the dip in Bitcoin, even at fantastically high prices. The reason is simple: In 10 of the past 13 years, Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset on the planet.
Even after massive market declines, like we saw in 2022, Bitcoin has always bounced back, better than before. In January 2023, Bitcoin was in the doldrums, trading for less than $17,000. Investors were warning that this was finally the end for Bitcoin. Just two years later, Bitcoin topped $100,000. The historical resilience of Bitcoin can't be dismissed anymore.
How much higher can Bitcoin go this year?
The good news is that Bitcoin might soar much higher in 2025. According to data from online prediction markets, Bitcoin has a 61% chance of hitting $125,000 this year. It has a 30% chance of hitting $150,000 this year. And it has a 12% chance of reaching $200,000 in 2025.
That basically lines up with what major Wall Street investment firms were predicting earlier in the year. In January, a popular prediction to make was that Bitcoin would double in value, to hit $200,000 this year.
All of this leads me to think that Bitcoin investors shouldn't be worried about the recent pullback. As long as money continues to flow into the spot Bitcoin ETFs, the overall upward trajectory should continue. While there's no guarantee that Bitcoin will double in price this year, there's a good chance it will hit yet another all-time high within the next six months.
