CryptoQuant's Ki Young Ju Predicts Bitcoin Could Reach $290,000 This Cycle. Is This Target Too Conservative?

CryptoQuant's founder sees this Bitcoin cycle playing out far differently than any before it, and his reasoning about who now owns Bitcoin challenges assumptions that bulls have taken for granted since 2017.

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Ki Young Ju, founder of the on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, believes Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) may only gain three to five times from its cycle low this cycle. This prediction suggests a peak around $290,000, a significant drop compared to previous cycles, each of which multiplied by at least eight times from its lows.

Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $83,803, up 10.5% this week and about 45% above its 2026 low. A fivefold gain from this low would require Bitcoin to climb by 246%, while a threefold gain would mean an increase of 108%.

Ki Young Ju’s 3x to 5x Call Puts Bitcoin’s Ceiling Between $174,000 and $290,000

Ju did not explicitly mention the $290,000 figure in a recent post on September 22, 2026, where he forecasted a cycle gain of three to five times instead of the more typical tenfold increase seen in previous cycles. Importantly, he did not provide a specific price target, timeframe, or basis for deriving this multiple. However, five times the June low of around $58,000 yields $290,000, while three times would be about $174,000.