color: var(color-red-500) – Currency Forecast

Swan’s CEO on What Happens When Wall Street Needs to Sell <a href="https://jpyxx.com/btc-usd/">Bitcoin</a>

Key Takeaways:

Institutions sell Bitcoin first on weekends – it’s the only liquid asset available.
Bitcoin is the least understood and most recently bought asset in institutional portfolios.
GBTC lost $21B in outflows – the only US spot Bitcoin ETF with negative net flows.
ETFs created cleaner top of funnel but pushed real Bitcoin to mid-funnel.
Klippsten gives 20-25% chance of new ATH in 2026, up sharply if $100K hits by July.

Cory Klippsten, the founder and CEO of Swan Bitcoin, a major US Bitcoin financial services company, has been involved with Bitcoin since 2017 and has seen many market ups and downs. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, he pointed out an important question that isn’t often discussed: not whether institutional investment is *good* for Bitcoin, but what will happen when those institutions need to sell their Bitcoin.

The answer is more specific than most people realize.

The weekend selling mechanic

Klippsten explains a simple situation that often gets missed. Imagine a large investment firm managing $100 billion. They might put $500 million into Bitcoin as a high-risk investment. If a major global event happens late in the week – say, on a Thursday or Friday – they’ll need cash on hand to quickly buy up assets at lower prices when the market reopens on Monday.

As I understand it, Bitcoin is currently the only asset they’re actively moving over the weekend. What’s particularly striking is that it’s also the asset they know the least about, and the one they’ve invested in most recently. It’s a bit of a paradox, really – pushing something they’re least familiar with and just acquired.

Because Bitcoin is always available to trade, often held in smaller amounts, and a relatively new asset for many institutions, it’s the first place they turn to when they quickly need to raise cash. This creates a recurring pattern: negative economic news surfacing on Fridays often leads to Bitcoin sales over the weekend, not because investors are losing faith in Bitcoin itself, but simply because it’s the easiest asset to sell at that moment.

He explains that the asset is often sold off not only by individual investors who panic, but also by larger institutions who are quick to sell.

This completely changes how we think about the role of large institutions. People often assume they provide stability through long-term investments and careful risk assessment. However, Klippsten argues they actually introduce a different *kind* of instability – not necessarily worse, but distinct. Understanding this is key to figuring out why Bitcoin’s price fluctuates.

GBTC proves the mechanic is real

The biggest evidence supporting Klippsten’s idea comes from what happened with GBTC after it became a regular Bitcoin ETF in January 2024. According to Binance News, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust saw over $21 billion leave the fund. It’s the only US Bitcoin ETF with net outflows since it started, losing about $89.9 million per day on average over its first eleven months.

The recent $21 billion outflow wasn’t due to any change in Bitcoin’s core value. It happened because investors who had been holding Bitcoin through the closed-end fund GBTC for a long time finally had a chance to sell once it converted to an ETF. These institutional and semi-institutional investors were primarily interested in trading the price of Bitcoin, not actually owning it, and they exited as soon as they could.

The ongoing decline in the price of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) represents a slow and steady outflow of funds. This isn’t necessarily people losing faith in Bitcoin itself, but rather traders closing their positions when they see an opportunity to sell. The significant $21 billion involved highlights just how much money was tied up in trading the trust, rather than as a long-term investment in Bitcoin.

The ETF paradox Klippsten is watching

Klippsten believes ETFs were a game-changer. He explained, “They essentially settled the debate about whether cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin had merit.” After six years of investors favoring altcoins, the arrival of Bitcoin ETFs quickly changed the conversation. Now, major financial institutions like BlackRock, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, and Schwab are all discussing and offering Bitcoin to their customers, which significantly expands the potential audience for the cryptocurrency compared to before.

However, this increase in Bitcoin investment came with a downside. According to Klippsten, these new ETFs brought a large amount of Bitcoin exposure, but it wasn’t truly held on the Bitcoin network itself. Instead of bringing new users to *owning* Bitcoin, the ETFs simply moved existing Bitcoin to a different stage of the investment process. Now, about two-thirds of Swan Bitcoin’s new customers already own a Bitcoin ETF before becoming Swan customers. They initially invested for price appreciation and are now beginning to explore what it means to actually own Bitcoin directly.

Klippsten explained that people are beginning to see the advantages of controlling their own assets, independent of traditional systems. He noted this requires a new approach to marketing.

This ETF launched the biggest Bitcoin awareness campaign ever, but it also unintentionally created a large group of people invested in Bitcoin without directly owning the cryptocurrency. Klippsten understands this duality and is focusing on reaching those who don’t actually hold Bitcoin, rather than debating the merits of raising general awareness.

This cycle is different from 14, 18, and 22

As a crypto investor, I’ve been following Klippsten’s predictions closely. He’s not one to hype things up, and at the start of 2026, he thought there was around a 50% chance Bitcoin would hit a new all-time high this year. But with Bitcoin currently trading in the $70,000s – after briefly dropping to $60,000 earlier in the cycle – he’s now lowered that probability to somewhere between 20 and 25%.

He’s less focused on whether Bitcoin will reach a new all-time high and more interested in how much it’s fallen from its peak. In past cycles, Bitcoin’s value dropped 77% to 94%. This time, it’s only fallen 50%, which he considers a win. He believes that anything less than a 70% drop would be a significant achievement in stabilizing the price.

He believes Bitcoin is becoming more stable, gradually increasing in value over time with less dramatic price swings. He notes that the recent 50% price drop is significantly smaller than the 77-94% drops seen in previous market cycles, suggesting it’s behaving more like a mature investment.

If we see $100,000 worth of activity in June or July, the price reaching $130 by year-end would become much more probable. Essentially, getting closer to that $100,000 target significantly increases the likelihood of hitting $130.

On quantum – manufactured controversy

Klippsten dismisses the current concerns about quantum computing threatening Bitcoin as typical hype. Having followed the crypto space for over a decade, he’s seen this same cycle of alarm before. He believes some are exaggerating the risk – now predicting potential problems in 2027 or 2028 – simply to promote alternative cryptocurrencies and raise funds.

According to experts, it’s currently impossible – and will likely remain so for many years – to figure out a private key just by looking at a public key. The biggest risk is with very old Bitcoin addresses (from the early days) and those using Taproot where the public key is openly visible. Simply switching to a private address protects everything else. It’s crucial to avoid hasty decisions and actions that could damage trust and lead to the seizure of funds.

Those who are rushing things always seem to have the same motivation: they want to quickly profit from Bitcoin.

What Swan is actually doing

Klippsten remains focused on helping people and businesses *buy* Bitcoin directly, rather than just trade or use complex financial products based on it. While the recent Bitcoin ETFs have altered the way he explains things, his ultimate goal hasn’t changed. He’s finding that many new Swan Bitcoin customers already invest in ETFs, so now his focus is on educating them about the benefits of actually *owning* Bitcoin itself.

Our approach has changed significantly. For four years, we focused solely on promoting Bitcoin, not Ripple, and communicated with people in a specific way. Now, we’re interacting with a new audience and using a different communication style – it’s a completely different situation.

On XRP specifically, asked directly at the end of the interview: “I have no thoughts. Don’t care.”

Klippsten points out that when Wall Street needs to quickly raise cash, the answer isn’t about whether the market will go up or down—it’s about how the system works. Bitcoin is often the easiest asset for institutions to sell on weekends, making it the first to go when they need funds in a hurry. This explains a lot of the price fluctuations often blamed on things like retail investors panicking, global events, or market manipulation. In many cases, the reason for price changes is simply a hedge fund needing U.S. dollars by the start of the week.

This article is just for informational and educational purposes, not financial or investment advice. Coindoo.com doesn’t recommend any particular investment or cryptocurrency. Before you make any investment decisions, be sure to do your own research and talk to a qualified financial advisor.

2026-05-27 15:54