Veteran trader Peter Brandt bullish on Bitcoin Bitcoin prices will rise to $250,000 by 2029, but only if the market ends a lengthy bottoming process that could last until September 2026.
This prediction makes sense in the context of Bitcoin’s four-year mining reward halving cycle, which is consistent enough to influence traders’ predictions.
Historically, Bitcoin bull markets peak approximately 16 to 18 months after the quadrennial mining reward halving, before slipping into a year-long bear market. New uptrends tend to start 12 to 18 months before the next halving.
This pattern has been reflected in the most recent cycle, with Bitcoin peaking in October 2025, approximately 18 months before the April 2024 halving, which will slash the number of BTC issued as rewards to miners per block from 6.25 to 3.125.
If this cycle continues, the initial bear market should bottom out about a year later, around October 2026, and then a new uptrend should begin, possibly peaking at $250,000 in late 2029, about 18 months after the April 2028 halving.
Brandt told CoinDesk in an email, “I wouldn’t see a low until September/October 2026. There’s no need to break out of the recent lows. We could have a bounce and then a sideways decline. Worst case scenario is a return to the lower green banana peel, into the 50s, maybe 40s highs. Then a surge to $250,000 and a high in late 2029.”
Peter Brandt is a veteran commodities trader. His career began in the futures market in the 1970s and has a history of nearly 50 years. He began trading traditional assets such as agricultural commodities, metals and currencies long before the rise of modern electronic trading or digital assets.
Brandt’s view contrasts with the consensus among cryptocurrency analysts, who believe that a downtrend that began at a peak near $126,000 in October ended around $60,000 in early February, and that the rebound since then marked the beginning of a new uptrend.
Bitcoin has risen more than 25% to $80,300 since early February, CoinDesk data shows.
Note that Brandt is not predicting a bottom until later this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the downtrend will deepen further, pushing prices below the February lows. As he points out, prices can move in a wave pattern of rallies and pullbacks before eventually forming a bottom.
However, Brandt emphasized that his prediction is entirely dependent on the market continuing to follow its historical rhythm. If price action goes awry, he’s prepared to reassess rather than defend a broken argument.
“As long as the market follows the script, I will stick to my forecasts. If at some point the price discovery deviates from the script, I will be forced to revise all my ideas. I will not be as dogmatic as some people,” he said.