This article is also available in Spanish.
in interview With CNBC on Monday, Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), shared his bullish outlook on Bitcoin. He stressed the growing institutional interest and favorable regulatory environment that could push the price of BTC to new highs.
Thiel dismissed the impact of the recent Bitcoin halving, saying: “I think the halving had no impact.” Instead, he attributed the rise in Bitcoin prices to the introduction of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) earlier this year. “In January, there were ETFs that were launched that suddenly led to the beginnings of some institutional interest,” he noted.
Institutions are “just waiting to buy” Bitcoin
While the initial investments in these ETFs were mostly retail, Thiel noticed a shift as institutional players began entering the market. “Then you started to see some pension funds start buying into Bitcoin-related ETFs and stocks like ours or MicroStrategy stock,” he added.
The CEO highlighted the potential impact of political developments on the Bitcoin market. “With the election, you know, Donald Trump ran on a very pro-bitcoin platform — Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, U.S. mining, etc.,” Thiel said. He noted that such a stance could lead to a more supportive regulatory environment in the United States.
Related reading
“What this ultimately led to was a huge belief that the regulatory environment for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies would suddenly improve, and that the United States would redouble its efforts and really invest in Bitcoin,” he explained. This expected shift could put pressure on other countries to adopt similar policies, boosting global adoption.
Thiel also pointed to strong market dynamics that absorb selling pressure from long-term shareholders. “Every bitcoin purchased was generating profits, and long-term holders who had held bitcoin for years started liquidating a little to get some profits,” he said. Despite this, he emphasized the market’s resilience: “There is so much demand in the market that it keeps absorbing it.”
Addressing concerns about Bitcoin’s notorious volatility, Thiel stressed that large withdrawals may be a thing of the past, at least in the near term. “The volatility of the past years, where it peaked and then saw a 20% or 30% decline, I think it has ended, at least in the near future,” he said. He believes institutional investors are preparing to enter the market aggressively. “I think what we’re going to see is basically institutions waiting to buy Bitcoin,” Thiel predicted.
Related reading
He cited recent actions taken by major companies to support his forecast. “You look at MicroStrategy — they’re (issuing) $3 billion worth of bonds; they’re buying bitcoin very aggressively,” he said. “We raised $1 billion in 0% bonds the same week Michael Saylor raised them, and we went out and took hundreds of Millions of dollars in Bitcoin.” Thiel stressed that the trend is gaining momentum: “A lot of people are starting to do it now.”
Concluding his vision, Thiel expressed his confidence in Bitcoin’s upward trajectory. “Anyone who is selling is selling in a market where there is a lot of demand, and I think for the foreseeable future we will continue to see the price of Bitcoin go up — you know, up and down, up and down — but overall the trend is going to be up,” he said.
Most notably, most recently, Cantor Fitzgerald amendment MARA’s price target is $33 to $42. The adjustment follows Mara Holdings completing a major $1 billion convertible bond offering last week. Of the $980 million raised, Mara used $199 million to buy back $222 million of its 2026 convertible notes. With $781 million of proceeds remaining, the company plans to buy additional bitcoin, utilizing a strategy similar to MicroStrategy (MSTR ).
However, unlike MicroStrategy, which focuses solely on capital market maneuvers to accumulate Bitcoin, Mara also runs the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining operation by hash rate. Analysts at Cantor highlight this as a key differentiator with upside potential.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $92,531.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.