Fact check: Bitcoin never really hit $100,000 in 2025 when you apply real world data

The article fact-checks the claim that Bitcoin hit $100,000 in 2025, revealing that when adjusted for inflation using 2020 dollars (based on CPI data), the price topped out around $99,848 in real terms. This discrepancy arises because inflation erodes the purchasing power of the dollar; $100,000 in late 2025 dollars is equivalent to roughly $80,000 in 2020 dollars. To match the 2020 purchasing power of $100,000, Bitcoin would have needed to reach approximately $125,000 nominally, a level it reportedly touched during its peak run. The deeper point is that for Bitcoin to mature as a macro asset, it must be judged by real returns—what it earns after inflation—rather than just nominal figures. Furthermore, the inflation data used for this calculation became temporarily messy due to a Bureau of Labor Statistics funding lapse. Despite the nominal celebration, the subsequent market pullback and ETF AUM decline suggest the market struggled to establish a stable floor at the six-figure mark, though underlying on-chain data, like realized cap, shows a strengthening foundation.

(Source：CryptoSlate)