Crypto traders haven’t yet shown enough fear on social media to substantiate a market bottom, based on a crypto analyst who suggested Bitcoin could still fall to around $75,000.
“It looks very tempting to get even closer to this,” said Maksim Balashevich, founding father of crypto market sentiment platform Santiment, in a video posted on YouTube on Friday.
An increase to this level would represent a decline of roughly 14.77% from Bitcoin's (BTC) current price of $88,350, based on CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin is up 1.81% within the last 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap
Balashevich explained that his hesitation was as a consequence of the undeniable fact that he had observed great optimism online that the downward trend would reverse within the near future, which he said will not be normally the case when an actual market bottom is forming.
“The crowd isn’t scared enough for a bottom,” Santiment said in a report the identical day.
Overly optimistic comments are “not what I need to see,” says Balashevich
“In a certain audience or retail-dominated channel, they're mostly discussing Bank of Japan rate of interest cuts and the bears have been caught and now it's going up from here,” he said.
“Such statements will not be what I need to see,” he said, adding that if circumstances were different he can be “very confident” in calling a market bottom.
Japan's central bank raised rates of interest to a 30-year high of 0.75% on Friday, a move previously linked to around 20% corrections in Bitcoin.
However, Balashevich said a drop to that price level would potentially provide a “excellent place to begin” for traders.
On Thursday, Jurrien Timmer, director of world macro research at Fidelity, said Bitcoin could take a “year-long break” in 2026 and the worth could potentially fall to around $65,000.
Other analysts, equivalent to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan, predict that 2026 will likely be a “bull yr” for Bitcoin.
Crypto market indicators contradict Balashevich’s outlook
Although Balashevich will not be convinced that the market has bottomed yet, crypto market indicators suggest otherwise.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures general sentiment within the crypto market, has remained within the “Extreme Fear” range since December 14th. On Sunday, the index posted an “Extreme Fear” rating of 20.
Other indicators point to risk-averse positioning amongst crypto traders.
The Altcoin Season Index, which measures the performance of the highest 100 altcoins in comparison with Bitcoin over the past 90 days, released a “Bitcoin Season” rating of 17 out of 100 on Saturday.
