Bitcoin $500,000 outlook resurfaces as investors weigh feasibility

A forecast has emerged that bitcoin could reach $500,000 by 2028.

On Sept. 25 local time, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that Cole Kennelly (콜 케넬리), founder and CEO of crypto volatility specialist Volmex Labs, forecast bitcoin could spike to $500,000 within two years.

For bitcoin to reach $500,000, it would need to rise sixfold, or 540 percent, from its current price. Bitcoin is trading at around $84,269.

What the market is focusing on is who made the remarks. Volmex Labs measures volatility rather than the bitcoin price itself. The company’s Bitcoin Volmex Implied Volatility Index is used to gauge forward-looking expectations for the cryptocurrency, drawing attention because it deals with expectations reflected in the options market rather than a simple price forecast.

A $500,000 target for 2028 is not entirely new. Standard Chartered previously predicted bitcoin could reach exactly $500,000 at the end of 2028. But in December 2025 it pushed the target date back to 2030, citing weaker corporate buying.

Similar forecasts have been repeated in the past. ARK Invest also said in September 2021 that bitcoin could rise about tenfold over the following five years to around $500,000, but that did not materialise. Mike Novogratz (마이크 노보그라츠), founder of Galaxy Digital, also mentioned several times in 2022 that bitcoin could reach $500,000 within five years. That would set 2027 as the deadline based on those remarks, but given the current bitcoin price, that is unlikely to be realistic.