Are Runaway Returns for Bitcoin Coming to an End? This Expert Thinks So

A prominent Bloomberg Intelligence analyst has cast doubt over Bitcoin’s bull run — and believes runaway returns for the crypto markets may be coming to an end.

Mike McGlone, who accurately predicted BTC would hit $100,000 several years before it happened, had a candid warning on X:

“Buy when they’re crying; sell when they’re yelling. Bitcoin and cryptos may be approaching a ‘sell when they’re yelling’ extreme.”

He was quoting a post that featured a picture of a Barron’s front page from back in 1999 that carried the dramatic headline “Amazon.bomb.”

That story had cast doubt over whether Jeff Bezos’s company was actually primed to be the future of retail — with the author expressing deep skepticism about Amazon’s ability to make a profit. At the time, Jacqueline Doherty had written:

“Amazon shares have been sliced nearly in half … cutting the company’s worth to about $19 billion and reducing Bezos’ fortune to $7 billion. The stock could fall a lot further.”

This would be an example of “buy when they’re crying,” as those who went against the grain would have ended up making a pretty penny. Fast forward to now, and Amazon is one of the most valuable companies in the world — with a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion to boot.

Cryptonews reached out to McGlone for further insight on what he means. The analyst argues that gold has been outpacing Bitcoin since last year — and the cryptocurrency’s surge to six-figure territory “may suggest an end-game for elevated speculative digital assets.”

He shared some of his notes from earlier in the year, where he noted that the precious metal has been a “top beneficiary” of BTC hitting the $100,000 mark.

“Past patterns suggest the ancient store of value may continue to outperform the highly volatile and speculative cryptocurrency in 2025, especially if the U.S. stock market declines.”

For now at least, the S&P 500 is doing well. The flagship index hit a fresh record high on Friday — and that was before Donald Trump inked a new trade deal with the EU while on a golfing trip to Scotland, alleviating fears surrounding tariffs. But a lot could change in the coming days. Wall Street is bracing for crucial earnings updates from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, Apple and Amazon among them. All in all, companies representing 40% of the S&P 500’s total market capitalization are set to report back to investors. Disappointments could end up having a detrimental impact on Bitcoin’s value.

In other developments, a flurry of data is set to offer an insight into the health of the U.S. economy, with the Federal Reserve also due to decide whether it will hold interest rates at current levels, or cut the cost of borrowing as Trump wishes. According to the CME FedWatch tool, there’s a 97.9% chance of rates staying as they are — a move that will undoubtedly exasperate the president.

McGlone’s argument these past few months has been pretty straightforward: BTC won’t scale to fresh all-time highs unless the stock market continues to show signs of strength.

“Borne of the financial crisis, cryptocurrencies have been at the forefront of an unprecedented outperformance period for U.S. risk assets that may have reached a nadir. Peak bubble akin to 1929 in the U.S. and 1989 in Japan could trickle down from $100,000 Bitcoin.”

The likes of Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson does believe that the S&P 500 has further room to run. He thinks that the index could jump 15% to 7,200 points next year — however, anticipates a 5% to 10% drop from current levels first, at some stage between now and the end of September. Why? Because we’re going to start seeing the delayed impact of Trump’s tariffs feed through into earnings.

Noelle Acheson, the author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, also argues that the new trade deal between the U.S. and the EU could impact BTC in unexpected ways. For one, there are no guarantees that the prospect of 15% tariffs on most European goods entering the States will be welcomed warmly in Brussels. And two, Trump’s announcements have the potential to strengthen the dollar, which could ultimately end up denting this cryptocurrency’s prospects.

Bitcoin might not be as easy as $123,000.