Even accounting for inflation, Bitcoin has not reached $100,000, says Galaxy analyst Alex Thorn

Bitcoin Fell Short of $100K After Inflation, Galaxy Research Says

Bitcoin (BTC $87,347.06) may have surged past $126,000 in October, but in real, inflation-adjusted terms it never reached the $100,000 milestone, according to Galaxy Digital’s head of research Alex Thorn.

Adjusting prices into 2020 dollars, Thorn said bitcoin peaked at $99,848 this year. The analysis highlights the gap between nominal prices — measured in current dollars — and real prices, which account for inflation and better reflect changes in purchasing power.

Thorn chose early 2020 as the baseline because it predates the Federal Reserve’s massive liquidity injections during the COVID crisis, making it a useful reference point for comparing value over time.

The findings can be interpreted in two ways. Optimists may argue that bitcoin’s rally from the 2022 lows has been less overheated than headline prices suggest, implying more room for upside. Skeptics, meanwhile, could view the underwhelming inflation-adjusted performance as a challenge to bitcoin’s reputation as a hedge against monetary debasement — even as gold, often cited as the alternative, has struggled to consistently beat inflation over long periods.