Market Analysts Eye $60,000-$70,000 Bottom as Ki Young Ju and Tom Lee Chart Bitcoin's Bear Market Path

The cryptocurrency market is experiencing a significant correction phase amid widespread concerns about sustained selling pressure. Recent market movements show Bitcoin has retreated to the $65,000-$69,000 range, while Ethereum has declined to approximately $2,000-$2,100 levels. This pullback reflects a fundamental shift in market sentiment, as multiple prominent analysts and industry leaders have begun to articulate a consensus: the bull market that dominated 2023-2025 has concluded, and a more measured bearish cycle now dominates the landscape.

The pessimism extends beyond just digital assets. Traditional markets have followed suit, with gold slipping below $4,500 per ounce and silver trading below $74 per ounce. U.S. stock index futures and major Asian equity indices including Japanese and Korean markets are all showing weakness, suggesting this represents a broader macroeconomic headwind rather than an isolated cryptocurrency phenomenon.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Slide Amid Selling Pressure: Tom Lee Warns of Continued Bearish Momentum

Analyst Tom Lee recently acknowledged during a podcast discussion that the current cryptocurrency environment has entered a distinctly bearish phase characterized by substantial short-term selling pressures. He suggested that Ethereum could potentially test $2,400 as a support level—a threshold the asset has already breached in the current decline. This assessment aligns with the broader market observation that without fresh capital inflows to counterbalance existing liquidations, prices will likely continue their downward trajectory in the near term.

Real Vision’s co-founder and CEO Raoul Pal provided additional context for the current market dynamics. He hypothesizes that during the recent market disruption, centralized exchanges (CEX) passively absorbed substantial asset inventories, potentially totaling around $10 billion. These acquired holdings are now being systematically offloaded through algorithmic selling during U.S. trading hours, a process that Pal expects will largely conclude by the end of February. Once this inventory digestion phase completes, he anticipates a sharp rebound in Bitcoin pricing.

Ki Young Ju Projects Gradual Decline to $60,000-$70,000 Target as Market Seeks Balance

Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, brings a measured perspective to the ongoing market debate. He acknowledges that persistent selling pressure combined with limited new capital inflow continues to drive prices downward. However, he introduces an important caveat: unless Michael Saylor initiates substantial liquidation of his Bitcoin holdings (a scenario he considers unlikely), the market will likely avoid the catastrophic 70% declines experienced in previous bear cycles.

Ki Young Ju’s analysis suggests that while the current market bottom remains undefined, this bear market phase could establish a broad consolidation range rather than a sharp capitulation event. His base case scenario, supported by technical analysis of key moving averages, points toward eventual support around the 200-week moving average (200WMA) level, which currently resides in the $60,000-$70,000 price zone. This represents a more gradual correction compared to historical bear markets, reflecting the fact that this cycle’s peak formed during moderate sentiment rather than excessive euphoria.

2026 Bear Market Outlook: When Will Bitcoin and Ethereum Find Their Bottom?

Benjamin Cowen, CEO of Into The Cryptoverse, presents a longer-term perspective that suggests the current decline represents the transition into a structural bear market year. He contends that the 2023-2025 bull market has definitively concluded, and 2026 will function as an overall “digestion phase” characterized by downtrend momentum persisting at minimum through mid-2026, with potential for the market to hold weakness through summer or even the third and fourth quarters.

Cowen’s technical analysis identifies potential accumulation zones significantly lower than Ki Young Ju’s projections, with the 200WMA range of $60,000-$70,000 serving as an intermediate target. Notably, he emphasizes that this particular bear market should unfold more gradually and with reduced magnitude compared to the 70-80% crashes of previous cycles, attributed to the absence of speculative euphoria at the recent peak.

This perspective finds partial support from ARK’s founder Cathie Wood, who has consistently hinted at Bitcoin’s long-term rebound potential. Wood points out that Bitcoin and Ethereum, alongside Solana and emerging protocols like Hyperliquid, may function as effective diversification instruments. She highlights historical data showing that the correlation coefficient between Bitcoin and gold has remained remarkably low at just 0.14 since early 2020, and notably, gold has historically led Bitcoin price movements during the final stages of previous bull market cycles.

Strategic Buying Zones: Where Institutional and Retail Investors Plan to Accumulate

Interestingly, while most analysts anticipate further weakness, their accumulation strategies reveal varied conviction levels. Qiao Wang, Alliance co-founder, has publicly stated his mental preparedness for Bitcoin to test the $30,000-$40,000 range, though he stops short of predicting such a decline will materialize. His staged accumulation plan begins at $60,000-$70,000 with gradual buying, escalating to aggressive “all-in” accumulation should prices reach the $30,000-$40,000 zone.

Recent developments also suggest some prominent traders may have overextended positions. Eugene Ng Ah Sio and Vida, a Formula News founder, both announced they had initially identified market bottoms, but subsequently disclosed on February 1st that they executed hedging strategies and closed positions—a move that indicates even experienced market participants maintain uncertainty regarding final price discovery levels.

The consensus among Ki Young Ju, Tom Lee, and other prominent analysts converges on a critical realization: this bear market will likely prove less severe than historical precedent, with gradual pressure toward the $60,000-$70,000 consolidation zone rather than panic-driven capitulation. Market participants would be wise to prepare for an extended correction phase rather than anticipate an imminent sharp reversal.