Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson predicts Bitcoin could reach $250K–$500K, citing DeFi progress and the expansion of the global crypto ecosystem.
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano ADA $0.45 24h volatility: 1.6% Market cap: $16.41 B Vol. 24h: $951.14 M , started the new month with great optimism about the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC $93 333 24h volatility: 0.1% Market cap: $1.86 T Vol. 24h: $74.62 B .
He has predicted that the coin’s price will grow to between $250,000 and $500,000 in the coming years, based on his strong convictions about the coin’s long-term potential.
Charles Hoskinson at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference
The Bitcoin 2025 Conference took place from May 27th to 29th in Las Vegas, with many top crypto industry players in attendance. During the event, Hoskinson delivered a keynote speech, sharing his vision for a $10 trillion Bitcoin ecosystem and the laudable $250,000 and $500,000 price projections for the leading crypto asset.
The Cardano founder supported his prediction by reflecting on Bitcoin’s early days, its foundational principles, and its evolving interaction with other blockchains.
He also emphasized how the crypto space has transformed from small-scale mining operations and online forums into a global movement now involving over half a billion people.
The infrastructure used for Bitcoin mining in the early days was relatively limited compared to today’s. He believes that older, simpler mining setups produced more Bitcoin in their lifetime than the multimillion-dollar equipment used today.
Bitcoin DeFi in the Spotlight
Charles Hoskinson also addressed three long-standing ideas aimed at expanding Bitcoin’s practical use. These include keeping functionality exclusive to Bitcoin, making sure all transactions and fees are settled in BTC, and generating yield strictly in Bitcoin as well.
While several talks and progress have been made on Bitcoin Decentralized Finance, Hoskinson noted that the above principles pose challenges to integrating DeFi functionalities into Bitcoin. However, the Cardano founder has a few solutions to these setbacks.
Hoskinson thinks new infrastructure, wallet layers, and smart contract tooling could address these limitations without violating core ideals. He firmly believes that the Bitcoin DeFi niche has huge potential.
Over time, Hoskinson has shown his commitment to Bitcoin DeFi, citing how strategic it is to Cardano. In an X post from May 31, he acknowledged Cardano’s recovery and comeback from all the slanders it experienced.
Now that we are on the other side of the tempest in the teacup, the ecosystem can move on to higher ground with greener pastures. We have left behind slander brigades, disgruntled exes, and toxic energy vampires for Bitcoin DeFi, governance finally taking shape, Midnight, and…
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 31, 2025
Going forward, the Layer-1 blockchain plans to focus on Bitcoin DeFi, Midnight, Leios, and Midgard. Hence, it was unsurprising when Hoskinson introduced “DeFi mode,” a new model that could bring DeFi capabilities to the Bitcoin blockchain using Cardano’s network.
More Price Predictions for Bitcoin
At press time, BTC’s price was $105,538.03, following a 1.13% increase within the last 24 hours.
However, Bitcoin’s price movement has been hard to predict, owing to the macroeconomic developments in the US and other jurisdictions. When Bitcoin was trading around $80,000, Polymarket bettors were confident it would climb to between $130,000 and $150,000 by the end of 2025.
Given the current price, these predictions now appear more ambitious, as reflected in Charles Hoskinson’s stance. While not unrealistic, Bitcoin would need several strong catalysts to reach those targets.
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