In the second half of the year, two major cryptocurrencies could see a significant breakout: Bitcoin (BTC +1.36%) and Solana (SOL 0.37%). While both have sky-high valuations right now, both are worth the risk. Here's why.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin remains the top-performing cryptocurrency of the year. It's up nearly 25% in 2025 and just hit another all-time high of $118,856.
This is the most expensive Bitcoin has ever been, but analysts continue to suggest that it could almost double in value by the end of the year. The U.K. bank Standard Chartered, for example, just put a $200,000 price target on Bitcoin.
Many investors have embraced the idea of Bitcoin being digital gold, viewing it as a potential hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. Its price plunged immediately after the announcement of President Donald Trump's tariffs on April 2 but has roared back to life. A big reason is the growing perception that the crypto might be able to weather the tariff storm better than traditional financial assets, thanks to its lack of correlation with any major asset class.
Image source: Getty Images.
At the same time, the Bitcoin treasury company model has captured the imagination of investors. First popularized by Strategy, which now holds $65 billion worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, this treasury model is being emulated by a host of smaller companies, including Trump Media & Technology Group, where Trump is the largest shareholder.
The concept behind a Bitcoin treasury company is simple: Buy as much of the token as possible, as fast as possible, as cheaply as possible. So, for example, Trump Media & Technology Group recently raised $2.3 billion from investors with the full intention of putting that money to work purchasing Bitcoin.
CRYPTO: BTC
Key Data Points
Things get even more exciting when you consider that the U.S. government might start to purchase it as well. In March, the White House announced the creation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under the auspices of the Treasury Department.
While the executive order did not authorize the government to buy any new Bitcoin, it did reserve room for new purchases, as long as they could be done in a "budget neutral" way. Now that the "big, beautiful bill" is set to be enacted, I'm fully expecting some budgetary sleight-of-hand later this year, as the government explores ways to purchase the crypto.
Solana
Another cryptocurrency with a sky-high valuation is Solana, which hit a new all-time high of $294 the day Trump was inaugurated as president. But it has declined markedly in value since then and currently trades for just $163.
While the decline is worrisome, online prediction markets still give it a 22% chance of hitting a new all-time high before 2026. In other words, some investor give Solana a 1-in-5 chance of roughly doubling in value within the next five months.
A big potential catalyst is the imminent launch of spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Right now, Bloomberg thinks that there is a 95% chance that they will be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2025. And it now looks like the timetable for their approval has been moved up, with a decision potentially coming as early as August or September.
The problem with Solana is that it became synonymous with meme coin culture in 2024. It became the go-to platform to create, launch, and trade meme coins, and that led to a frenzy of meme coin speculation. When Trump launched his meme coin in January, for example, he did so on Solana.
Since then, however, the meme coin market has collapsed, and that has had a dramatic effect on Solana. When the entire global financial system seemed to be faltering a few months ago, the last place you wanted to put your money was a risky blockchain linked to meme coins.
CRYPTO: SOL
Key Data Points
However, we've seen this story before with Solana. In 2022, the price collapsed to just $10. But the following year, the crypto soared more than 900% as investors realized that concerns over its relationship with failed crypto exchange FTX, created by convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, were overblown.
I'm not saying the same thing is going to happen again, but I do think Solana is a $300 cryptocurrency.
High reward, but also high risk
Both Bitcoin and Solana are risky. Anytime you invest in a cryptocurrency, there's potential for enormous volatility. Making matters even riskier, both cryptocurrencies are coming off recent all-time highs. So, as they say, they're priced for perfection.
However, the reward outweighs the risk in both cases. I'm bullish on them over the short and long term, and confident that they have the potential to double in value before the end of the year.
