A forecast has emerged that bitcoin could reach $1 million per coin within the next few years, around five years.

On May 7 local time, blockchain outlet BeInCrypto reported that Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said this in an appearance on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Sigel said VanEck’s base scenario is a long-term rise in bitcoin. He added that bitcoin is a highly cyclical asset, so sharp volatility can emerge during an uptrend.

He likened bitcoin’s adoption path to the video game industry. Citing young investors’ willingness to add bitcoin and demographic change, he said demand that was once limited to certain age groups is expanding to all ages. He also said there have been cases of central banks buying bitcoin for foreign exchange reserves, and he described this trend as a long-term one.

On near-term price moves, he said the correlation between bitcoin and the Nasdaq has risen to its highest level in the past 5 years. He said the recent rally is also being heavily influenced by macroeconomic trends.

As a basis for VanEck’s optimism at current price levels, he cited the absence of overheating in the derivatives market. He also said the recent gains appear to have been driven mainly by short liquidations, meaning overall market positioning still tilts relatively bearish.

With this outlook, VanEck joined the $1 million forecast made by others such as Matt Hougan of Bitwise and Samson Mow of Jan3. Their analytical frameworks differed, it said.

For bitcoin to reach $1 million, it would need to rise more than 12-fold from its current price. Bitcoin traded at $81,042 at the time of writing and was down about 0.30 percent over the past 24 hours. The outlet said that even if it recovers its record high of around $126,000 set in October 2025, there is still a large gap to $1 million.