Bitcoin: Cryptoquant Predicts that the Peak of the Bull Run Will Occur Outside of the US

Cryptoquant founder Ki Young Ju bluntly states that the peak of the bitcoin bull cycle will not come from the United States. Instead, institutional capital and ETFs deployed elsewhere will drive it. A thesis that clearly reframes the debate, as South Korea remains behind in terms of regulatory access.

In brief

• Ki Young Ju (Cryptoquant) believes that the peak of the bitcoin bull cycle will be driven by institutional capital and ETFs outside the United States.
• South Korea exemplifies persistent obstacles elsewhere: no spot ETFs, limited retail access, companies still excluded from exchanges.
• Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, plans to accept bitcoin, ETH, and USDT as loan collateral from September 1st.

Bitcoin: Ki Young Ju (Cryptoquant) Predicts that the Bull Run Will Occur Outside of the US

For Ki Young Ju, founder of Cryptoquant, the peak of this bitcoin bull cycle will not be American. Not only will it be institutional, it will come from elsewhere. To illustrate his point, he uses South Korea as an example, a country where:

• There still is no bitcoin spot ETF;
• Individuals cannot buy foreign products;
• Companies are stuck at the exchange doors;
• Local regulation is just starting to open up.

Meanwhile, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs approved by the SEC have already sucked in nearly $57 billion in two years. For Ki Young Ju, this imbalance is the growth margin of the next cycle, and the real peak will come when a provincial Korean banker recommends a bitcoin ETF to a grandma for her retirement.

With Bitcoin, Russia Accelerates

Russia is currently pressing the accelerator at bitcoin level. Sberbank, the country’s largest bank with over 100 million clients, plans to accept Bitcoin (BTC), ETH, and USDT as loan collateral. The condition here is the entry into force of new Russian rules on digital assets, scheduled for September 1, 2026.

A systemic bank in a country that has long kept its distance from crypto is now preparing to turn bitcoin into banking collateral. Not a simple speculative bet, but a concrete financial use on the scale of tens of millions of accounts. All this perfectly illustrates what Ki Young Ju points out with BTC: Institutional adoption is no longer written only in Washington, but also in Moscow.

Between Ki Young Ju’s bitcoin bull run thesis and Russian bank Sberbank’s shift, the adoption of BTC leaves its American suit behind. It remains to be seen who between Asia and Russia will then give the next strong signal. One thing is certain now, the bull run is not done traveling.