Bitcoin’s recent rally may be losing momentum, though CryptoQuant says that does not mean the broader bull market is over.
Bitcoin was recently trading at $82,939, down nearly 4% over the past seven days, after climbing to an eight-month high of $87,251 last week. CryptoQuant had said last week that Bitcoin entered a bull market after moving above its 365-day moving average, which the firm described as the technical signal that marked the beginning of Bitcoin bull markets in prior cycles.
In its latest report, the data analytics firm said signs of profit-taking are beginning to show. Short-term traders, defined as holders who have kept their coins for one to three months, are sitting on average unrealized profits of about 33%. CryptoQuant said that is the highest reading since December 2024, and margins at that level have historically encouraged selling.
The report added that holders realized 25.7K BTC in profit on a single day last week, the largest one-day profit-taking event of 2026. That came one day after Bitcoin’s price broke above its eight-month high.
CryptoQuant said Bitcoin may still have room to move higher, but the rally is fading and the chance of a near-term correction is increasing. The firm did not say how far Bitcoin could fall, but it identified three support areas that could act as a floor in a pullback:
- the 365-day moving average at about $80,000;
- the 200-day moving average at about $71,000;
- the traders’ on-chain realized price at about $67,000.
As long as those levels hold, CryptoQuant said any decline would look more like healthy consolidation inside a young bull market than a full trend reversal.
The report also looked back at Bitcoin’s move after it set a record of $126,080 in October last year. The asset then began to fall later that month after what the article described as the biggest liquidation event in crypto history, with more than $19 billion in bets closed.
In the first half of this year, Bitcoin continued to decline after the Federal Reserve made clear it was in no rush to cut interest rates, while investors increasingly directed money toward artificial intelligence-related stocks in search of returns.
The article said the so-called debasement trade has gained traction again after total U.S. debt topped $40 trillion for the first time in July. In that setup, investors buy assets they see as protection against the loss of currency value. Bitcoin and precious metals such as gold have historically performed well during periods when the dollar weakens.
This report first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.