Bitcoin faces sliding prices as analysts debate the next rally, while traders react to shifting market conditions and forecasts.
Bitcoin has seen heavy selling over recent weeks. Price action pushed traders to rethink old predictions and debate how long the next recovery may take.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt shared a long timeline for the next massive upswing. His view surprised many traders who expected faster progress.
Brandt’s Long Timeline for Bitcoin
Peter Brandt said that Bitcoin may not reach $200,000 until the third quarter of 2029. He shared this view on X and noted that he still supports Bitcoin over the long run.
Notably, his position differs from several well-known figures across the crypto sector.
Full disclosure folks
Of my maximum ever Bitcoin position I still own 40%, at a price 1/20th of Saylor’s avg buy.
I am a long-term bull on Bitcoin. This dumping is the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin. The next bull market in Bitcoin should take us to $200,000 or so. That…— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) November 21, 2025
Arthur Hayes and Tom Lee expected BTC to pass 200,000 by the end of this year. They repeated that view as recently as October. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood also shared far higher numbers.
They see one million dollars by 2030 and that target is one quarter later than Brandt’s and nearly five times higher.
Brandt’s slower timeline gained attention because the market has struggled since early October. Bitcoin hit a record of $125,100 on October 5 before selling pushed the price to $88,000 on Wednesday.
It has slid again to about $86,870 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.
Why Brandt Views the Drop as Healthy
Brandt said the market needs these resets. He called the recent selling the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin. He also shared that he still holds 40% of his largest ever Bitcoin position.
He bought that position at what he says was one twentieth of Michael Saylor’s average price.
Other analysts agreed that past resets often cleared excess leverage. They said this pattern has helped Bitcoin build stronger bases before later rallies. Charles Edwards of Capriole Investments explained that institutional selling reached the highest share of Coinbase volume ever recorded.
Bitcoin has _never_ seen this much institutional selling as a percentage of Coinbase Volume in all history. pic.twitter.com/YzSzpGQmBN
— Charles Edwards (@caprioleio) November 21, 2025
That surge in selling helped deepen the decline but may also help flush out weak positions.
Brandt compared the current chart to the soybean market from the 1970s. Prices then peaked before sliding about 50% as supply started to rise. He said Bitcoin now shows a similar type of top.
Related Reading: Bitcoin Drops to $85K as Market Liquidations Hit $831M
Market Crash Creates Wide Reactions
The latest slide hit the entire sector. Bitcoin fell to around $85,738 and lost more than 13% for the week. Ethereum dropped to $2,806 and lost 14% over seven days. XRP fell to $1.98 and lost nearly 16% in the same period.
Total crypto value fell to $3.06 trillion. Market fear stayed at extreme levels for the second week in a row and more than 221,000 traders faced liquidations worth about $794 million over 24 hours.
Reactions to Brandt’s long forecast came fast.
Some traders said the returns do not match the risk. Others said the target does not beat inflation.
A few supporters backed his cycle view and said that a bottom in late 2026 followed by a peak in late 2029 seems plausible. Some said the decline is a normal correction after a sharp rally earlier in the year.
Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone took a darker view. He warned that Bitcoin could fall to $10,000 if it repeats its 2018 pattern.
He argued that token supply keeps rising and that weak macro conditions are adding pressure. He also pointed to late-cycle ETF inflows as a sign of stress.