In interview on CNBC on Monday, Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), shared his bullish outlook for Bitcoin. He highlighted the growing institutional interest and favorable regulatory environment that could push the BTC price to recent highs.

Thiel dismissed the impact of Bitcoin’s recent halving, stating: “I think the halving had zero effect.” Instead, he attributed the rise in Bitcoin prices to the introduction of spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) earlier this year. “In January, ETFs were launched and suddenly they gave rise to some institutional interests,” he noted.

Institutions are simply “waiting for Bitcoin to be bought out.”

While initial investments in these ETFs were largely retail, Thiel has seen a shift as institutional players enter the market. “Then you started to see some pension funds start to buy ETFs and Bitcoin-related stocks like our stock or MicroStrategy stock,” he added.

The president emphasized the potential impact of political events on the BTC market. “You know that during the election, Donald Trump was running on a very pro-Bitcoin platform – Bitcoin strategic reserves, US mining, etc.” – Thiel said. He suggested that such a stance could lead to a more favorable regulatory environment in the United States.

“What ultimately led to this was a huge belief that suddenly the regulatory environment for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies would improve significantly, that the United States would redouble its efforts and really potentially invest in Bitcoin,” he explained. This anticipated change could put pressure on other countries to adopt similar policies, supporting global adoption.

Thiel also pointed to solid market momentum that is absorbing selling pressure from long-term holders. “Every Bitcoin you bought was making a profit, so long-term holders who had held Bitcoin for years started liquidating a bit to get some profits,” he said. Still, he stressed the market’s resilience: “There’s so much demand in the market that it’s just absorbing it.”

Addressing concerns about Bitcoin’s notorious volatility, Thiel assured that significant declines may be a thing of the past, at least in the near term. “I think the volatility of previous years where you peaked and then dropped 20% or 30% is gone, at least for the foreseeable future,” he said. He believes that institutional investors are ready to aggressively enter the market. “I think what we will see is basically institutions waiting to buy Bitcoin,” Thiel predicted.

To support his views, he cited recent actions of the largest corporations. “Look at MicroStrategy – they are there [issuing a] $3 billion bond; they are buying Bitcoin very aggressively,” he said. “The same week as Michael Saylor, we raised a $1 billion bond with a 0% coupon and then went out and acquired hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin.” Thiel emphasized that this trend is gaining momentum: “A lot of people are starting to do it now.”

Concluding his observations, Thiel expressed confidence in Bitcoin’s upward trajectory. “Anyone who’s selling is selling in a market where there’s a lot of demand, and I think for the foreseeable future the price of Bitcoin will continue to go up – you know, up and down, up and down – but overall the trend will be up.” he stated.

Especially Cantor Fitzgerald lately customized MARA target price from $33 to $42. The move follows Mara Holdings’ completion of a significant $1 billion convertible bond offering last week. Of the $980 million raised, Mara has earmarked $199 million to repurchase the $222 million principal amount of its 2026 convertible notes. With $781 million in proceeds at its disposal, the company plans to purchase additional Bitcoin using a strategy similar to MicroStrategy (MSTR).

However, unlike MicroStrategy, which focuses solely on capital market maneuvers to accumulate Bitcoin, Mara also runs the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining operation by hashrate. Cantor analysts highlight this as a key differentiator with growth potential.

At the time of publication, the price of BTC was $92,531.

Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com