Bitget CEO: Bitcoin to Stay Near $70,000 Through 2026

Bitcoin investors may need to watch central bank expectations alongside crypto-specific factors such as ETF flows and corporate purchases, Chen suggested.

Chen also expressed skepticism that the U.S. government will begin buying Bitcoin for its strategic reserve before the end of President Donald Trump's term, despite the administration's favorable stance on digital assets.

The Trump administration created the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in March 2025 using Bitcoin already forfeited to the federal government. Officials were instructed to study budget-neutral methods to potentially increase the government's holdings without additional tax spening. The U.S. government currently holds about 328,372 BTC, most of it from criminal seizures and asset forfeitures.

Converting the reserve from a stockpile of seized assets into an active purchasing program would require a much larger policy decision, Chen argued. It could need debate among lawmakers about the government's role in owning a volatile asset.

“From a policy perspective, it's probably unlikely,” Chen said. “I just don't see it coming right now.”\Direct federal purchases would differ from retaining Bitcoin the government already owns. Buying would create a new source of sovereign demand. The reserve without purchases has a more limited market effect: keeping forfeited Bitcoin reduces the chance those holdings will be sold. It does not produce reccuring buying pressure.

For the rest of 2026, Chen sees monetary policy and private-sector demand as more immediate variables. ETF flows and corporate treasury purchases could drive prices more than speculation about federal buying, Chen said.