Traders are looking past the Fed’s December interest rate decision to whether its going to start growing its $6.5 trillion balance sheet and blow up stocks, crypto and the bitcoin

In a McDonald's by a lake surrounded by mountains, in the centre of the Swiss city of Lugano, a customer orders coffee. "Can I pay with bitcoin?" he asks, and the person behind the counter holds out what looks like a credit card payment terminal.

Standard Chartered, which previously predicted bitcoin would hit $200k in 2025, said it was slashing its forecasts for through the end of the decade.

In a late November research note, JPMorgan outlined a long-term price target of $240,000 for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin attracted $732B in capital since 2022—more than all prior cycles combined as volatility and record ETF demand signal mid-cycle reset

In the face of a profitability crisis, industrial-scale bitcoin miners are transforming their data centers into AI factories.

Tech tycoon Elon Musk 's SpaceX has moved millions of dollars' worth of Bitcoin (BTC) as the aerospace and space transportation company is reportedly planning for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2026. As Musk himself is a strong Bitcoin advocate, SpaceX began adding the digital asset to its balance sheet in 2021.

With a series of record highs and crushing sell-offs, 2025 has been a rollercoaster ride for bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, which is at risk of ending the year with its first annual decline since 2022.

Individual investors shouldn't ask whether Bitcoin will crash in 2026. What they should ask is whether you are a long-term believer in the cryptocurrency as a store of value in their portfolios. If so, then maybe now is a good time to add it to your portfolio.