Bloomberg’s top ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, says that Bitcoin ETFs will reach a volume three times larger than that of gold ETFs. At current levels, this is a significant projection.

Global gold ETFs had about US$615 billion at the end of August. Tripling that value would place Bitcoin ETF assets near US$1.85 trillion—approximately 19 times above the current level.

If the Bloomberg specialist’s analysis is correct, how high could the price of Bitcoin rise?

3 reasons Bitcoin ETFs could reach gold’s level

Balchunas highlights three factors that support his projection:

  • Bitcoin has a younger investor base. Pew research in 2026 showed that 26% of Americans aged 18 to 29 and 28% of those aged 30 to 49 have already used crypto, versus only 10% of people above 50. Balchunas predicts this younger audience should control more wealth over time.

  • Institutional capital still has room to advance. Professional investors accounted for about 21% of the assets in US Bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter. Investment advisers held the equivalent of 150 thousand BTC, while bank exposure quadrupled compared to the previous year.

  • Bitcoin ETFs have strong distribution. US funds already total about US$ 54.6 billion in net inflows since launch, boosted by managers like BlackRock and Fidelity, which offer Bitcoin through traditional investment channels.

Yes. Here’s why: 1) BTC is younger, gold older 2) it will be used more by big money as it matures and settles down with both volatility and correlation 3) far more enthusiasm and sales firepower. no one is out there talking about gold ETFs but you’ve got dozens of wholesalers (fluent in both… https://t.co/bHBBuNkXLf

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 17, 2026

What could that mean for the Bitcoin price?

There is no exact formula. ETF assets grow both from new inflows and from Bitcoin’s appreciation. However, simple calculations point to the necessary scale. Currently, US funds hold about 1.26 million BTC.

If those Bitcoin reserves doubled to 2.52 million coins and ETF assets reached US$ 1.85 trillion, the Bitcoin price would have to be around US$ 732 thousand.

If ETF reserves triple to 3.78 million BTC, the estimated price would drop to about US$ 488 thousand.

With that, the reference range would be approximately US$ 490 thousand to US$ 730 thousand, or something between 6 and 10 times the current price.

This is not a definitive projection. Gold ETF assets can increase even more, and Bitcoin funds can accumulate a higher volume of coins.

But if Balchunas’s forecast comes close to gold’s current valuations, that would require a fundamentally larger Bitcoin market than the one seen today.

The article Analyst says that Bitcoin ETFs can triple gold. What does that mean for the price of Bitcoin? was first seen in BeInCrypto Brasil.

#BTC