Why the Bitcoin Rally Has Seemingly Faded
The pullback in odds tracks a pullback in risk appetite as oil climbed after President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the CME Fedwatch tool now shows a 70.3% chance of an October Federal Reserve rate hike. Gold, too, posted one of its sharpest one-day drops in two decades on the same move.
Crypto felt the tremors quickly as roughly $500 million in positions were liquidated over 24 hours as BTC broke below $83,000. Also, analysts now see a 75% chance that the crypto cycle has turned.
The bullish case has not disappeared, though, and Fidelity’s Jurrien Timmer recently flipped toward $100K after calling 2026 a “year off” (all while spot bitcoin funds just booked their best week since October 2025).
The Numbers Above $100K
Looking past the headline figure, it becomes quite clear that traders are not saying never to a $100K surge but just “not yet.” On Kalshi, the $110,000 strike trades near 19 cents, $120,000 near 13 cents, and $150,000 around 4 cents.
Over on Polymarket’s $100K market, the numbers are as follows:
- By Dec. 31, 2026: 34.5%
- By March 31, 2027: 50.5%
- By June 30, 2027: 61.5%
- By Dec. 31, 2027: 81%
Two platforms landing within about 1.5 points of each other on the same year-end question suggests the 33%-35% range is a fair read of the crowd right now. October starts Thursday, and crypto traders are already calling it “Uptober.” For now, the market has priced in a one-in-three chance that 2026 still gets its six-figure moment.
