Calls for a potential 2026 Bitcoin supercycle have intensified over the past week after former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao – another prominent voice in the cryptocurrency industry – presented his predictions for the recent year. However, a popular analyst on social media platform X expressed a different opinion, predicting a deep bottom in the BTC price this year.

BTC price at risk of further decline by 65%.

In a January 25 post on the X platform, prominent cryptocurrency trader Ali Martinez he saidin a sarcastic tone that “a super cycle is a super bike ride.” In what seemed to be a response to the hype surrounding the projection of a Bitcoin supercycle in CZ, the market expert tempered expectations by proposing a minimum price of $31,000 for the most critical cryptocurrency in 2026.

This bearish forecast is based on the appearance of price fractals on the BTC chart. For context, fractals are repeating patterns on price charts that can facilitate map and forecast potential price movements for a specific cryptocurrency (Bitcoin in this scenario).

As you can see in the chart above, the BTC price is currently following a similar pattern as in 2022. The first cryptocurrency, after initially setting a then high level around $67,000 in early 2021, saw an almost 55% correction to just above $30,000 by mid-July.

While Bitcoin’s price rebounded to reach an all-time high above $69,000 again at the end of 2021, the market leader spent most of the next year in a downtrend. Exacerbated by various bearish events in 2022, BTC ended the year at a low of around $15,500.

Martinez believes the Bitcoin price is following a similar pattern, seeing a decline of over 32% before reaching its current all-time high of $126,080. The market expert postulates that the leading cryptocurrency is currently witnessing a long-term decline that will see its price reach $15,500 in 2022.

However, it is worth mentioning that this time the target is $31,800, which represents a drop of almost 65% from the current price level. Thus, if the historical patterns highlighted by Martinez are to pass, it appears that there is a greater likelihood that Bitcoin’s price will enter an extended downtrend rather than a supercycle.

Bitcoin price at a glance

At the time of writing, BTC is trading at around $88,528, reflecting a decline of over 1% in the last 24 hours.