Bitcoin is not like a traditional business, so investors need to be creative in estimating where its price might go.
Compared to gold, Bitcoin has unique attributes that should work in its favor in the long term.
Driven by greater global adoption, the digital asset can still produce huge gains by 2035.
10 stocks we prefer over Bitcoin ›
Bitcoin(CRYPTO:BTC) still has its share of criticism, no doubt. But the cryptocurrency’s past gains speak for themselves. In less than two decades, this worthless digital curiosity has become a global asset valued at nearly $1.8 trillion.
However, the performance of Bitcoin in 2025 is extraordinary. Its price fell by 7% (as of December 23). This figure lags the broader stock market, which could surprise investors.
Nonetheless, the long-term outlook for this dominant cryptocurrency remains strong, in my opinion. Where will Bitcoin be in 10 years?
Image source: Getty Images.
Bitcoin does not have a management team or headquarters. It does not sell products and services to customers. Therefore, it does not collect revenue, pay expenses, or generate net income or free cash flow. It’s not like a business, so investors can’t do detailed analysis assessment exercise to determine potential returns.
But there is another asset that investors can view in tandem with Bitcoin. And it is gold. The precious metal is similar to the digital asset in that it is borderless (no country or entity has control over it), global, decentralized, fungibleand rare.
Gold has a key advantage over Bitcoin, namely that the former has been one of the best choices as a store of value for thousands of years. This outlook has not changed in 2025, as the price of gold has increased by 71%. Central banks In many different countries, they have increased their gold reserves in an effort to become less dependent on the US dollar.
Bitcoin may not have the long history or established position that gold does. But it itself has multiple advantages. For starters, Bitcoin is rarer. Anyone who follows this crypto knows that there will only ever be 21 million units in circulation. This is applied by events halvedwhich makes the growth rate of Bitcoin supply predictable. It has a hard supply cap that cannot be changed.
On the other hand, the supply of gold can fluctuate. If demand suddenly increased, miners would scramble to quickly extract more gold. And perhaps there will be efforts to invest in innovative mining technologies to exploit asteroid deposits in space. Therefore, new supply can enter the market and respond to the demand shock, creating an adaptive system.
Bitcoin is also purely digital and lives on the Internet. Over the past three decades, the world has become increasingly technology and internet driven. This favors Bitcoin as a superior means of facilitating commerce.
Additionally, the fact that it is digital also means that it is much easier to use Bitcoin in transactions. Financial technology company Block recently announced that its 4 million Square merchants could seamlessly accept Bitcoin as a payment method. Nobody takes gold at the point of sale.
And by being digital, Bitcoin is divisible, with a satoshi equal to 1/100 millionth of a single Bitcoin. The physical nature of gold prevents this, unless you are able and willing to melt it and make coins of a specific weight.
The value of all the gold on the surface is estimated at a whopping $31.4 trillion. Bitcoin’s market cap sits at $1.8 trillion, much less. It might be a stretch to believe that Bitcoin can close the gap and grow 17x over the next decade. However, I believe that in the very long term, the digital asset will be worth more than gold. Favorable regulation, increased liquidity and greater innovation will help.
However, over the next 10 years, it would not be surprising to see the price of Bitcoin increase 10x, translating to an annualized gain of 26%. For what it’s worth, Bitcoin has grown at an annual rate of 70% over the past decade. It is reasonable to expect growth to slow as the asset continues to gain widespread adoption.
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Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions and recommends Bitcoin and Block. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Where will Bitcoin be in 10 years? was originally published by The Motley Fool
