Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten said Bitcoin will likely bottom in October before climbing toward $130,000 ahead of the 2028 halving. The forecast rests on a historical pattern. After each previous peak, the coin has bottomed roughly a year later. This isn't just about BTC traders. Klippsten's view also touches the entire altcoin market, which he says is losing its status as a competitor to money.
Why the market could bottom in October
Bitcoin (BTC) peaked above $126,000 in early October 2025. Klippsten says the market has typically bottomed about 12 months after each prior high, which makes October 2026 a logical candidate. He cautions that the pattern rests on only a few cycles, so there's no guarantee.
The long-term holder metric matters on its own. The more coins that sit untouched in wallets for years, the less supply remains on exchanges available for sale. That kind of supply squeeze has historically lined up with bottoms, not peaks. Back in a June interview with Cointelegraph, Klippsten suggested the bottom could arrive earlier than usual, given a record share of coins held by long-term holders sitting on 14.7 million BTC.
In his latest comments, he laid out specific levels. Bitcoin could drop to $57,000 or even $53,000 before a quick recovery toward $130,000 ahead of the 2028 halving.
What it means for BTC traders
As of mid-August, BTC trades around $63,400, roughly a third below its October 2025 high. Reaching the lower end of Klippsten's range would still require another 10 to 15 percent drop from here. For traders, the gap between analyst forecasts means one thing: focus on price levels, not calendar dates.
10x Research founder Markus Thielen sees an earlier scenario. He argues the market bottom may have already formed in August if the monthly close lands above $63,000, a move that would flip several of his firm's cycle indicators bullish. The divergence between August and October shows how jittery the market remains after last year's peak.
Active traders should watch monthly closes rather than daily swings. For long-term buyers who accumulate on dips, Klippsten's forecast offers entry-price anchors at $57,000 and $53,000. Those are the levels worth tracking.
Altcoins fall out of the race for money status
Altcoins, in Klippsten's view, no longer compete with Bitcoin as money. He sees the best outcome for crypto and DeFi not as beating traditional finance, but merging with it.
Klippsten's logic rests on a difference in value models. He treats Bitcoin as a scarce asset with fixed issuance, while most altcoins issue tokens tied to their own business models. That, in his view, puts them closer to tech-company stock than to money.
Klippsten named Hyperliquid as the exception. The HYPE token climbed 130% year to date while Bitcoin lost 28% over the same period, TradingView data shows. The protocol generated $5.9 million in weekly revenue, ranking fifth among DeFi projects by that metric, according to DefiLlama.
- Liquidity keeps concentrating in a handful of large protocols instead of spreading across the market.
- Tokens without real revenue risk falling out of institutional focus first.
- Even leaders like Hyperliquid depend on eventual recognition from traditional financial regulators.
The bet on merging with TradFi
Klippsten explained the merger logic using Hyperliquid as his example.
"Hyperliquid is a business and it has a token. If it's a business that's centralized, it will eventually just get sucked up by TradFi and be thought of as an exchange and a bank."
- Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin, from an interview with Cointelegraph
Wintermute analysts reached a similar conclusion this summer. In a July report, they described how growing institutional participation reshaped altcoin market dynamics. Rallies grew narrower and more selective. Liquidity is concentrating in assets favored by funds, while the rest of the market, that same long tail of smaller tokens, keeps losing ground.
For a regular investor, that draws a simpler map of the market. Large, centralized protocols with real revenue are drifting closer to traditional financial infrastructure, while smaller tokens without a durable business model remain the riskier bet.
What comes next for the market
The takeaway for the market is straightforward. Uncertainty over timing will persist through the fall, and capital will keep narrowing around a handful of projects like Hyperliquid. Klippsten's tone, based on the interview, stays measured. He doesn't promise a fast rebound and openly admits some indicators rest on a short historical record.
Bitcoin's price swings routinely ripple through Ukraine's exchanger market. When the price drops toward levels like $57,000, demand from people looking to buy Bitcoin with hryvnia on the dip tends to pick up. For altcoin holders, Klippsten's outlook sounds less comforting. The stronger bet is on assets with real revenue, not on a rebound across the whole market.
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