Bitcoin to top $100,000 before year-end, according to bettors on Kalshi

Bitcoin is trading near record levels, and Kalshi users are betting that the cryptocurrency could rise above $100,000 before the end of 2024.

Kalshi data on Tuesday showed that 60% of users are betting that bitcoin could hit the $100,000 mark before January. Additionally, 45% of users wagered the flagship cryptocurrency could reach the level this month.

Kalshi is an event contract market that launched in 2021, offering traders a way to bet on the outcome of events like economic data releases and election results. The platform gained prominence this year for its legal fight against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that resulted in betting markets for the presidential election being open to U.S. traders in the run-up to last week’s vote.

The digital currency has rallied more than 28% since the U.S. presidential election last Tuesday. The election outcome has been considered bullish for cryptocurrencies, since President-elect Donald Trump has indicated his support for the industry, including implementing more favorable regulations.

The prediction markets were volatile ahead of the election, but they were generally more bullish on Trump than traditional polling. However, odds and gambling platforms do not use methodologies used by traditional political polling, and therefore are not substitutes for political polls.

Bitcoin was last trading at around $89,000 on Tuesday after rising more than 10% on Monday to just below $90,000, according to Coin Metrics.

“Strong positive sentiment is likely to persist through the balance of 2024 and [we] see bitcoin prices potentially reaching the six-figure mark by the end of this year,” said Mike Colonnese, an analyst at H.C. Wainwright. “Bitcoin is now in price discovery mode after breaking through all-time highs early last Wednesday morning when it was officially declared that Trump won the election.”

— CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.