CryptoQuant CEO Says BTC Could End 2024 at $58K And Enter Bear Market in 2025

Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of the market intelligence platform CryptoQuant, believes bitcoin (BTC) could end the year at a price way below its current value of $81,000.

In a series of tweets, the market analyst opined that BTC could spend 2025 in a bear market, ending its current bull cycle after finishing 2024 at $58,974.

Bitcoin Futures Market is Overheating

Following the emergence of the United States Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 election, BTC has hit new all-time highs almost every day. The asset started last week with a value of $69,000; however, at the time of writing, it had increased by roughly $12,000 to $81,000.

This dramatic rally within seven days has caused the Bitcoin derivatives market to turn bullish. Bitcoin open interest in the perpetuals and futures markets is revealing a large appetite for leveraged long positions. The number of investors opening positions in these markets is reaching near all-time highs, and they are willing to pay premiums for leveraged exposure to BTC amid expectations that the cryptocurrency could surge to $100,000 or more.

A K33 Research analyst revealed that the Bitcoin options market bias leans heavily toward a continued rally; call options are trading at a premium compared to puts, and out-of-the-money trades are seeing an increase in open interest. Additionally, open interest in bitcoin’s value exceeding $90,000 has surged to more than $2.8 billion on the derivatives and crypto options exchange Deribit. 

Bear Season in 2025?

These developments and the overheating of the bitcoin futures market indicators have led Ju to expect corrections in the coming weeks, as is often the case in the market. The CryptoQuant CEO said the market will heat up more because BTC has entered a price discovery phase.

Although Ju expects BTC to end the year around $58,974, he believes there is a chance the bull run may extend into next year. This would be possible if the asset sees correction and consolidation in the coming weeks. On the contrary, a strong year-end rally could see BTC go into the bear season in 2025.

“Hope I’m wrong,” Ju stated.

Meanwhile, the CryptoQuant founder asserts that this is the time for investors to gradually sell their BTC and not buy all in. This is because BTC is likely to surge 30% to 40% from its current level, not the 368% surge the market witnessed from $16,000 in 2020-2021.