TLDR
- Although Bitcoin reached a nominal high of $126,000 in October, its real value in 2020 dollars was just $99,848.
- Alex Thorn’s analysis uses 2020 as a base year, just before the Federal Reserve’s massive money printing.
- This gap between nominal and real prices suggests the market may have more room for growth than it appears.
Seeing the pioneer crypto at record figures might be an economic utopia. According to Alex Thorn, global head of research at Galaxy Digital, if we analyze the price of Bitcoin, it has yet to cross the emblematic six-figure barrier in terms of real purchasing power.
The expert maintains that, although the nominal price on exchanges exceeded $126,000 in October, the reality is different when the loss of value of the U.S. dollar is discounted. By using constant dollars from early 2020—the period prior to the massive monetary expansion caused by the pandemic—the real all-time high stood at $99,848, falling just short of the psychological milestone.
The Bull vs. Bear Debate on Real Value
This distinction between nominal and real prices opens a deep debate within the financial community. For optimists, the fact that the price of Bitcoin adjusted for inflation has not reached $100,000 is a bullish signal. This would imply that the rally from the 2022 lows hasn’t been as parabolic or “excessive” as traditional charts suggest, providing room for the bullish trend to continue without facing immediate market overheating.
Conversely, critics and skeptics use this data to question the cryptocurrency’s effectiveness as a hedge against monetary devaluation. They argue that if the real return is lower than perceived, the asset is not fully delivering on its promise to protect capital against indiscriminate money printing.
The report also reveals that 2025 was a year of “structural decoupling.” While institutions adopted the technology and Total Value Locked (TVL) on networks increased, many Layer 1 tokens ended the year with flat or negative returns.
In this context, understanding the price of Bitcoin adjusted for inflation becomes vital for investors seeking to measure the real success of their portfolios heading into 2026.
