Wall Street and Washington Bet On New Bitcoin USD ATH for 2026

Ben Graham · Terço em 08:13

Respected fund manager Bill Miller IV and Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee say Bitcoin USD looks ready for another leg up in 2026, with a clear shot at a new all-time high. BTC is up +0.8% today, trading at around $91,200, but remains -26% below its $126,080 peak. Bitcoin has begun 2026 strongly, up over +7% this year as dip buyers quietly step in and liquidity begins to flow back into the crypto market.

Miller IV and Lee argue that the end of the US government’s war efforts, surging Wall Street adoption, and declining interest rates could all contribute to BTC hitting new highs this year. That, and a simple historical fact: Bitcoin has never posted two consecutive losing years.

What Does This 2026 Bitcoin Call Actually Mean for You?

When analysts talk about an “all-time high” (ATH), they mean the highest price Bitcoin Bitcoin BTC $93,694.57 1.18% Bitcoin BTC Price $93,694.57 1.18% /24h Volume in 24h $40.45B Price 7d Learn more has ever reached. Miller IV told CNBC that Bitcoin “looks ready to go again” and expects it to break above its previous record from October 2025, citing both chart strength and big-money interest moving on-chain.

In the CNBC interview, Miller IV cited comments from US regulators who now acknowledge that capital markets are shifting to blockchains, and noted that banks like JPMorgan are quietly building crypto rails in the background.

He also advises investors to “zoom out” and ignore a single red year, noting that Bitcoin’s long-term chart looks like a staircase with ugly steps but a clear upward direction.

That matches his earlier view that we are in the “very early innings” of a massive capital shift into BTC, with around $500Bn already converted from traditional money into Bitcoin, according to Benzinga.

For a beginner, this matters because it shows that long-term price moves depend less on crypto Twitter hype and more on slower-moving but more impactful institutional decisions.

Tom Lee, the Chairman of Bitmine, an ETH treasury firm that trades on the New York Stock Exchange, supports Miller’s thesis from another angle. He notes that heavy leverage trading flushed the market after a sharp move in October 2025, when Bitcoin USD reached a new all-time high of $126,000.

Lee argues that the flush triggered a market reset and eliminated many weak hands. At the same time, BTC spot ETFs continue to attract capital from regular brokerage accounts; our earlier coverage of strong Bitcoin ETF inflows showed how these products function as a simple “Bitcoin button” for retirement savers and institutions alike.

(SOURCE: CoinGlass)

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How Could Institutional Money Push Bitcoin to a New High?

Miller IV’s long-term thesis centers on retirement funds and sovereign wealth funds. Global retirement accounts hold roughly $60 trillion; he argues that even a 1–2% average allocation to BTC over time would create significant buying pressure, as outlined in his comments to CNBC.

Some of that shift has already begun, with funds such as Norway’s Norges Bank and elite universities such as Harvard dipping their toes into Bitcoin via the BlackRock iShares ETF.

For the average retail investor, this institutional adoption is the opposite of a volatile meme coin pump. It’s slow, boring, and powerful. When world-renowned institutions decide to hold even a small slice of Bitcoin as part of a long-term strategy, whether through the multiple ETFs on offer or directly, they effectively remove coins from circulation and tighten supply.

JUST IN: Harvard University buys $320,000,000 in #Bitcoin ETFs increasing exposure by 237% pic.twitter.com/OLREUGnA4j

— Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDaily) November 14, 2025

Add in regulated products like spot ETFs and large corporations mimicking Michael Saylor’s Strategy by stacking Bitcoin USD, and you get a market where dips often attract patient buyers rather than panicked sellers.

Even more cautious players see a wide but upward-skewed range. Galaxy Digital estimates a 2026 Bitcoin price of between $50,000 and $250,000, while Dragonfly’s Haseeb Qureshi expects levels above $150,000 by the end of 2026, according to Ainvest. The numbers differ, but the story stays the same: big money treats Bitcoin as a long-term asset, not a weekend trade.

Risks of Buying into the 2026 Hype?

This all sounds exciting, but you still face significant volatility. Bitcoin now sits about -26% below its $126,000 ATH, even though the long-term thesis remains unchanged. That swing alone shows why you never use rent money or emergency savings to buy BTC; you only risk money you can leave untouched for several years.

Predictions also conflict. Galaxy says 2026 is “too chaotic” to forecast precisely, with a $50,000–$250,000 range that may not provide much guidance on timing. A change in US politics, a new regulatory crackdown, or a macro shock could delay any new high.

Our earlier piece on a Binance executive’s bullish 2026 outlook made the same point: the direction looks positive, but the path there can feel like a roller coaster.

For new traders and investors, the practical play is simple. Decide whether you want Bitcoin as a long-term savings vehicle, learn how it works, and then consider a small, regular purchase plan rather than a single large bet. Treat it like adding a tiny slice of digital gold to your portfolio, sized so that a -50% drawdown annoys you but does not damage your life.

As Wall Street, retirement funds, and even Governments warm to Bitcoin, the 2026 ATH debate shifts from “if” to “when” for many analysts. Your edge as a beginner is patience and discipline, two things even the biggest funds struggle to maintain when prices begin to go parabolic.

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