CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju believes Bitcoin has entered a new bull cycle after the cryptocurrency’s deep 2026 correction.
The crypto expert said he expects this current cycle to look very different from the explosive rallies of previous years.
In a post on X, he wrote,
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“I expect this Bitcoin bull cycle to deliver 3–5x rather than another 10x+ parabolic rally, followed by a milder bear market. When Bitcoin was smaller and retail dominated, hot money fueled explosive rallies and 80% crashes. Today, a much larger market and growing institutional ownership are dampening both extremes. The same forces that limit the upside also soften the downside.”
Ju’s prediction comes as Bitcoin surged to $87,000, marking another strong session for the world’s largest cryptocurrency and drawing widespread attention across crypto markets.
The flagship cryptocurrency was up 2.6% at $86,864, after reaching a one-week high earlier in the day, as optimism returned to the crypto markets following weak U.S payrolls data and dovish Federal Reserve comments.
Notably, the CryptoQuant CEO, assessment follows a sharp recovery from Bitcoin’s 2026 lows. Recall that BTC fell to roughly $57,700–$58,000 around the middle of the year, after reaching an all-time high of about $126,000 in October 2025.
The latest Bitcoin rally follows a strong September for crypto assets, which gained more than 6% during the month after recovering from a mid-September selloff. Over the past few weeks, Bitcoin has climbed significantly from lows, supported by a combination of institutional demand and short-covering activity.
The rebound also comes after a powerful quarter for crypto. The crypto asset gained more than 40% in the third quarter, while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted roughly $6.34 billion of net inflows, reversing about $5 billion of second-quarter outflows.
CryptoQuant had initially been more cautious about describing Bitcoin price movement as bullish. In July, the firm projected Bitcoin’s rebound as a bear-market recovery rather than a confirmed trend reversal.
By late August, however, its Bull Score had climbed sharply, while Bitcoin was approaching its 365-day moving average around $83,000, a level CryptoQuant identified as important confirmation of a new bull market.
Why Ju expects A 3–5x cycle
Ju’s argument is largely based on how Bitcoin’s market structure has changed. Previous Bitcoin cycles were heavily influenced by retail investors and speculative capital.
When money rushed into the market, Bitcoin could rise extremely quickly, producing 10x-plus gains. Those rallies were often followed by crashes of 70–80% or more.
According to Ju, Bitcoin is now a much larger asset with substantially greater institutional ownership. That makes it harder for relatively small amounts of new capital to generate the enormous percentage increases seen during Bitcoin’s early years.
His expectation is therefore for a more mature cycle. However, Ju did not specify a precise price target or deadline when making the 3–5x prediction, so those numbers are simply the mathematical implications of applying his multiple to the cycle low.
The bigger picture
Ju’s argument is essentially that Bitcoin is becoming a mature institutional asset rather than the highly speculative asset it was in earlier cycles.
That could mean investors should no longer expect the spectacular 20x, 50x or 100x returns associated with Bitcoin’s early history. But the same structural changes could also reduce the likelihood of the extremely deep crashes that historically followed those rallies.
With Bitcoin already trading around the upper-$80,000s in late September/early October 2026, Ju’s thesis would require the cryptocurrency to eventually move well beyond its 2025 record high of roughly $126,000 before the 3–5x cycle scenario from the 2026 low becomes fully visible.