Bitget CEO Gracy Chen expects Bitcoin to remain broadly around current levels through the end of the year despite its recent surge, citing interest rates and broader macroeconomic conditions as key factors shaping the cryptocurrency's outlook.

Speaking on Cointelegraph's Trade Secrets podcast, Chen, who has led the crypto exchange since becoming CEO in 2024, said predicting whether Bitcoin (BTC) will finish the year above or below $70,000 is difficult, pointing to the possibility of higher interest rates as one factor that could pressure prices.

"If any of that happens, the price should go down, at least theoretically," Chen said, adding that BTC has become increasingly integrated with traditional finance and sensitive to broader macroeconomic conditions. That integration deepened in January 2024, when US regulators approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, giving institutions a regulated way to gain BTC exposure and pulling the asset further into the traditional financial system.

"My guess is maybe around the same range," Chen said, noting that BTC could finish the year $10,000 to $20,000 above or below current levels, a range she described as her "more responsible" forecast.

Chen sees US Bitcoin purchases as unlikely

Chen was also skeptical that the US government will begin purchasing Bitcoin for its national reserve before the end of President Donald Trump's term, calling such a move unlikely within the next two years.

The Trump administration established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in March 2025 using BTC already forfeited to the federal government, while directing officials to explore budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional BTC.

The US government currently holds an estimated 328,372 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET, much of it accumulated through law enforcement seizures and asset forfeitures rather than direct purchases, a stockpile equal to roughly 1.6% of Bitcoin's fixed 21 million maximum supply.

Chen said actively purchasing Bitcoin would be a significantly bigger policy decision, requiring debate among lawmakers and political parties despite the administration's broadly crypto-friendly stance. Congressional proposals to authorize such purchases, most prominently the Bitcoin Act introduced by Senator Cynthia Lummis, which would direct the government to acquire 1 million BTC over five years, have not become law, and some states, including New Hampshire and Texas, have moved ahead with their own digital-asset reserve legislation in the meantime.

"From a policy perspective, it's probably unlikely," Chen said. "I just don't see it coming right now."