New York – Optimism around Bitcoin (BTC) may have cooled in recent months, but it won’t stay that way for long, according to Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital.

“Attention will come back to Bitcoin, it always does,” Thorn said in an interview with CNBC on Friday, recalling how Bitcoin became “the hottest trade of the year” following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election earlier this year.

However, Thorn noted that investor attention has since drifted toward other fast-growing sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), nuclear energy, quantum technology, and gold.
“There were a lot of other places to get gains this year that impeded the allocation to Bitcoin,” he explained.

Despite this short-term shift, Thorn described the current environment as a “much more mature era” for the crypto market. He said that the distribution of Bitcoin ownership from early investors to new holders is a healthy sign for long-term sustainability.

While remaining bullish on Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory, Thorn revealed that Galaxy Digital has revised its year-end price target downward to $120,000, from a previous forecast of $185,000. The updated target still implies an upside of roughly 17% from Bitcoin’s current price of $102,080, based on CoinMarketCap data.

Thorn’s comments come as investors increasingly weigh Bitcoin’s performance against traditional safe-haven assets like gold. JPMorgan analysts recently observed that rising gold volatility has made the precious metal riskier, potentially boosting Bitcoin’s appeal. The Bitcoin-to-gold volatility ratio has fallen to 1.8, suggesting Bitcoin now carries only 1.8 times the risk of gold — a lower differential than in previous years.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s growing correlation with Nvidia (NVDA) stock has raised eyebrows among market watchers, with some warning of potential parallels to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s.

The debate over quantum computing’s potential threat to Bitcoin’s cryptographic security also remains unresolved. Amit Mehra of Borderless Capital believes the technology is still “years away” from posing any real danger, while Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole, cautioned that the industry must act now to develop safeguards before it becomes too late.

Even with short-term uncertainty, Thorn reiterated that Bitcoin’s cyclical resurgence in investor attention is inevitable, adding that its role in global finance remains as compelling as ever.