Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) started 2026 above $93,000, but briefly crashed to $60,000 in February after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran, hammering risk assets across the board. It’s since bounced back to around $70,000, which is still 25% below where it started the year—and well short of the $100,000 many hoped would mark the beginning of its recovery back to the $126,000 all-time high.
With $100,000 looking so far off, we asked five AI models one question: Will Bitcoin hit $100,000 again before the end of 2026? ChatGPT, Grok, DeepSeek, and Gemini all said yes, with targets ranging from $100,000 to $250,000, but Claude disapproves of any $100K BTC move in 2026.
Here’s what each bullish AI model sees, and why Claude doesn’t see Bitcoin reaching $100,000 this year.
The Four AI Models That Say Yes to $100K Bitcoin
ChatGPT, Grok, DeepSeek, and Gemini all project Bitcoin above $100,000 by year-end, with Grok and Gemini seeing $200,000 or higher as realistic if the right conditions line up.
ChatGPT: $110K–$150K if ETF Inflows Hold
ChatGPT puts Bitcoin in the $110,000 to $150,000 range by late 2026, with $180,000 as its most optimistic forecast. The model’s view comes down to whether institutional money keeps flowing into spot Bitcoin ETFs.
So far, the answer has been mixed. Bitcoin ETFs bled $3.6 billion in the first two months of 2026, which looked like the start of a sustained exit. But BlackRock’s IBIT has pulled in $1.47 billion over the past two weeks alone, including a $263 million single-day inflow on March 2 and $115 million on March 11.
Total cumulative inflows across all spot Bitcoin ETFs have now crossed $55 billion since the products launched in January 2024. For ChatGPT, that early-2026 bleed looks more like a pause than a permanent shift, and the model expects a steady climb back above $100,000 as institutional buying picks up through the second half of the year.
Gemini: $100K–$220K if Global Liquidity Expands
Gemini isn’t watching ETF flows like ChatGPT. Instead, it tracks central bank balance sheets and currency debasement trends across the globe. Gemini’s prediction falls between $100,000 and $220,000, and the difference between the two price targets depends on what central banks do next.
If the Fed cuts rates, the European Central Bank keeps easing, and global liquidity continues expanding from its current $130 trillion all-time high, money could flow back toward hard assets. Bitcoin, with a fixed supply of 21 million coins, is one of the first places institutional money goes when currencies start losing value. If monetary policy stays tight and liquidity contracts instead, Gemini’s forecast drops closer to $100,000 than $220,000.
DeepSeek: $100K by December, but $41K Could Come First
DeepSeek also sees Bitcoin at $100,000 by year-end, but it’s the only model warning that BTC could fall significantly further before any recovery starts. DeepSeek says BTC could drop as low as $41,000 in Q2 or Q3, arguing that the selloff from $126,000 still has room to run.
The model argues that what would bring BTC back up is the same supply squeeze that’s been building since the April 2024 halving, which cut new Bitcoin issuance in half. Fewer new coins enter circulation every day, and DeepSeek expects that to collide with a shift in Fed policy and returning risk appetite later in the year as the U.S. midterm elections approach.
DeepSeek essentially agrees with the other models on where Bitcoin falls by December but thinks anyone buying right now should be ready for a deeper drop before the recovery kicks in.
Grok: Up to $250K if the Short Squeeze Fires
Grok has the highest Bitcoin target of all five models at $250,000. The model pulls real-time sentiment from X, which means it picks up on retail enthusiasm and viral narratives faster than models working off historical price data alone.
Where Grok gets specific is the $75,000 resistance level that has capped every Bitcoin rally attempt in 2026. Right now, $4.34 billion in short positions are stacked above current prices, and funding rates have dropped to their most negative since August 2024, meaning traders are heavily betting against Bitcoin.
If BTC breaks through $75,000, those shorts get liquidated, the forced buying pushes the price up, and there’s barely any resistance between $75,000 and $80,000 because only 1% of Bitcoin’s supply was ever bought in that range. Grok’s view is that once that squeeze starts and retail momentum picks up alongside it, $100,000 becomes a stop on the way to something much higher.
Why Claude Doesn’t See the Bitcoin Price Reaching $100K in 2026
Claude sees the Bitcoin price trading in the $75,000 to $95,000 range by the end of 2026, making it the only model that doesn’t see $100,000 happening this year. Its most optimistic scenario stretches to $110,000, but that requires several things going right at once, and Claude doesn’t treat that as the likely outcome.
The core of Claude’s argument is that Bitcoin’s cycle peak may have already happened. Every post-halving cycle has produced a new all-time high within 12 to 18 months of the halving. The April 2024 halving is now 23 months behind us, and BTC already hit $126,000 in October 2025. If the pattern of diminishing returns holds, where Bitcoin peaked at $20,000 in 2017, $69,000 in 2021, and $126,000 in 2025, then the top for this cycle is already in, and what follows is a prolonged correction rather than a recovery to $100,000.
Claude also points to the ETF flows as less convincing than the other models suggest. It notes that although BlackRock’s IBIT pulled in $1.47 billion over the past two weeks, Bitcoin ETFs bled $3.6 billion in the first two months of the year, and one strong stretch of inflows doesn’t erase that. In 2024, institutions were buying Bitcoin as a long-term portfolio allocation. In 2026, the buying and selling looks more reactive, driven by whatever the macro headline is that week. That’s enough to keep the price from collapsing, but not enough to push it 43% higher from where it sits today.
For Claude, BTC reaching $100,000 isn’t impossible, but a lot of things need to line up at once: Bitcoin has to break and hold above $75,000, ETF inflows have to stay positive for months, the Fed has to cut rates for the right reasons, and the Iran conflict has to de-escalate enough for risk appetite to come back across the board. The model believes that if any one of those stalls, BTC would stay range-bound between $75,000 to $95,000 through December.
The Bitcoin Price Triggers That Will Decide Who’s Right
The next few months will show which model read the market correctly. If DeepSeek is right about a deeper drop to $41,000, that would likely play out in Q2 or early Q3, and the speed of the recovery afterward would determine whether its $100,000 year-end call holds up. If BTC instead breaks above $75,000 and holds there through the spring, that’s the scenario where Grok’s short squeeze setup and ChatGPT’s ETF-driven grind both gain credibility.
The Fed’s rate decisions later this year will carry a lot of weight. Gemini’s $200,000 forecast only works if global liquidity expands meaningfully, and that starts with central banks easing. Claude’s $75,000 to $95,000 range holds up best if the Fed stays cautious and the Iran conflict keeps risk appetite suppressed through the summer.
Bitcoin has already proven it can hold $70,000 through a war and months of negative sentiment, and whether it can do more than just hold is what the rest of 2026 will answer.
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