Bitcoin’s price is approaching its bottom, according to VanEck CEO Jan Van Eck, signaling the end of the four-year cycle.

Speaking with CNBC on Monday, Van Eck said his company expects Bitcoin (BTC) to start gradually rising this year, arguing that the four-year halving cycle has been the main driver of the price over the past few months, as opposed to anything related to Bitcoin’s fundamentals.

“Our view by 2026 is that Bitcoin will rule it […] “The limited supply is 21 million, and the halving cycle is where the bitcoin miners running the network get half as many bitcoins every four years,” he said, adding:

“There was an investment cycle, and Bitcoin went up for three years in a row, and it went down very significantly in that fourth year. 2026 is that fourth year. That’s why we’re in a bear market for Bitcoin. So I think we can overcomplicate it. Now I think we’ve hit the bottom.”

The four-year cryptocurrency cycle has been a hot topic of debate over the past year, with cryptocurrency analysts divided on whether the chart pattern is still applicable today given the level of institutional adoption and maturity of the cryptocurrency market.

Arguments against the cycle include aggregate demand from exchange-traded funds, a weak US dollar, and positive regulatory developments.

Jan van Eck’s comments come as the price of Bitcoin is up 2.6% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $68,400 at the time of writing, and 7.6% over the past seven days, according to data from CoinGecko.

Related to: Bitcoin slide slows down, but bear market persists: Analysts

The injection of cryptocurrencies coincided with increasing geopolitical tensions, after the United States and Israel began air strikes on Iran, which has since prompted Iran to launch strikes in response to Israel.

Van Eck speculated that Bitcoin’s recent rebound may be partly caused by the conflict, as cryptocurrency payment paths serve as a key tool for moving money out of banks in times of economic uncertainty.

“When one thinks about reaching some sort of solution with Iran, how will the money be moved? And I think it’s a very crypto-friendly region, like the UAE and Dubai and everything,” he said, adding:

“So it’s possible that if we wanted to move money to good actors, we would want to use cryptocurrency payment paths rather than going through crumbling Iranian banks that we don’t control.”

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