Despite Recent Market Correction, Most Crypto Analysts Expect the Bull Cycle to Continue Until the End of 2025

While most analysts expect the crypto bull cycle to continue until the end of 2025, concerns over an economic recession in the United States

Most analysts expect the crypto bull cycle to continue until the end of 2025, but concerns over an economic recession in the United States, along with crypto’s “circular” economy, may still threaten crypto valuations.

Despite the recent market correction, most crypto analysts expect the bull cycle to peak after the third quarter of 2025, with Bitcoin BTCUSD price predictions ranging from $160,000 to above $180,000.

However, despite the optimistic price predictions, crypto markets may still be affected by several external and industry-specific risks, according to Arthur Breitman, the co-founder of Tezos.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Breitman noted that, besides the U.S. president’s trade war plans, crypto's biggest risk is related to the "circular" nature of its economy.

"Within the industry, the main risk is that the industry is still very much in search of grounding. It's all still very circular."

"If you look at DeFi, for example, the point of finance is to finance something […], but if the only thing that DeFi finances is more DeFi, then that's circular."

This is in stark contrast to the stock market, which is "built on revenue-generating businesses," making the crypto industry’s “lack of grounding” one of the main industry threats, Breitman added.

Other industry insiders have also criticized the state of the crypto economy, specifically related to the latest memecoin meltdowns, which are siphoning liquidity from more established cryptocurrencies.

Solana was hit by over $485 million worth of outflows in February after the recent wave of memecoin rug pulls triggered an investor flight to "safety," with some of the capital flowing into memecoins on the BNB Chain, such as the Broccoli memecoin, inspired by the Changpeng Zhao's dog.

US recession fears are crypto's biggest external risk: Tezos co-founder

The cryptocurrency markets are still expected to be affected by several macroeconomic concerns, including a potential U.S. recession, which will hit both traditional and cryptocurrency traders.

"In terms of macro events, I still think we could see a recession," said Breitman, adding that such an event would affect the tech market, which in turn will influence crypto traders.

Cryptocurrency markets still trade in significant correlation with tech stocks, meaning that a recession will cause a widespread sell-off, he added.

The current trade war concerns, driven by U.S. President Donald Trump's import tariffs and continued retaliatory measures, have reignited concerns over a potential recession.

Over 40% of market participants expect a recession in the U.S. this year, up from just 22% a month ago on Feb. 17, according to the largest decentralized predictions market, Polymarket.