- Bitcoin (BTC) bear market has arrived, major indicator says
- Macroeconomic tensions prevent Bitcoin (BTC) from surging
Bitcoin (BTC), the biggest cryptocurrency, is officially in a bear market. The “negative” period for the network activity metric is too long for being associated with a healthy correction, 2016-2025 data says. Meanwhile, another reliable indicator brings some optimism to Bitcoin (BTC) bulls.
Bitcoin (BTC) bear market has arrived, major indicator says
A Bitcoin (BTC) network activity indicator shows that the segment is trapped in a bear market. Such a statement was shared by Julio Moreno, Head of Research at CryptoQuant analytical platform.
Moreno shared his views with 19,200 followers of his X account earlier today, April 2, 2025.
Bitcoin Network Activity is an indicator that tracks key network metrics, including the active address count, number of transactions, number of UTXOs and the size of each Bitcoin (BTC) block.
In this context, “negative” values for Bitcoin Network Activity metrics refers to the indicator being beyond the trendline. A previous recession of such size was registered in late 2021 when Bitcoin (BTC) met its previous bearish recession.
Some “red” periods can be spotted in bullish phases, but they are short-lived. For the last time, such a negligible drop to negative zones was observed in July 2024.
Macroeconomic tensions prevent Bitcoin (BTC) from surging
At the same time, Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives contracts funding rates — mechanism exchanges used to keep the balance between short and long positions — dropped below zero.
CryptoQuant community expert Axel Adler treats this drop as a mixed signal for traders:
On the four major exchanges – Binance, ByBit, OKX, and Deribit – the average funding rate has dropped into negative territory, currently, the metric is just above zero. In this cycle, in four similar instances it ended with a price increase and once with a decline.
He attributes the potental liquidity inflow to the activity of corporate holders and experienced investors. At the same time, selling pressure is coming from “paper hands.”
Bitcoin (BTC), the biggest crypto by market cap, is changing hands at $84,700, up 0.89% in the last 24 hours. The market benchmark is up by 0.49%.