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Zac Prince says extreme bearish sentiment in late 2025 could be setting Bitcoin up for its next major move.
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Despite retail losing interest, institutions are still building quietly behind the scenes.
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Prince predicts Bitcoin will reach a new all-time high in 2026 as distribution and adoption expand.
Zac Prince, former BlockFi CEO and current Head of Galaxy One, believes Bitcoin will hit a new all-time high in 2026. Speaking in a recent chat with John Gillen from Milk Road, Prince pointed to late 2025’s heavy bearish sentiment as a sign that things are about to turn around.
“I would make a prediction almost at the beginning of every year that Bitcoin hits a new all-time high and I’d give it pretty good odds,” he said.
Prince described Bitcoin as a mix of store of value and a venture capital-style bet. He added that he follows a simple approach: set an allocation and stick with it rather than trade based on feelings.
Bearish Sentiment Usually Comes Before a Rally
Late 2025 felt very bearish across the board. But Prince sees that as a good thing, not a bad one.
“Anytime you start to see that sentiment… it could be the beginning of a signal that… it’s about to rip,” he explained.
He said he would be “more surprised” by another rough year than by a strong one, given how low sentiment already is.
Retail Is Bored, But Institutions Keep Building
Prince noted that retail interest has drifted, but institutions are still expanding crypto infrastructure behind the scenes. Many traditional channels like wealth advisors and major platforms are still rolling out crypto access slowly.
He expects retail could wake up again once bonus season hits, Bitcoin crosses a major price level, or new institutional products start launching.
What Could Push Bitcoin Higher in 2026
Prince listed several factors for the year ahead: ETFs gaining wider distribution, younger generations inheriting wealth and preferring app-based finance, and a potentially easier Fed policy environment.
“The older people are going to pass away and pass the money down to younger people,” he noted.
He also expects stablecoin adoption to keep growing, more crypto ETFs to launch, and continued experimentation with tokenized real-world assets.
If the sentiment shift plays out like Prince expects, retail may find itself late to the party once again.
