Bitcoin is sitting just below $70,000, but the sharper signal may be in the derivatives market: roughly $6 billion in short positions would be forced out if the price climbs to $72,500, according to data from Santiment.

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That comes as Bitcoin keeps testing the same ceiling again and again, with the market showing signs of strain rather than conviction.

Sentiment Turns Sharply Sour

Social chatter around Bitcoin has weakened fast. Data from Santiment shows the bullish-to-bearish ratio has slipped to 0.81 to 1.00, its lowest reading since February 28.

According to social data across X, Reddit, Telegram, and other platforms, Bitcoin is seeing the highest ratio of bearish discussions (fear) since February 28th. With crypto’s #1 market cap sitting at $66.8K, FUD has crept back in with the community showing a key lack of… pic.twitter.com/Ym7SbUC22I

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 4, 2026

The drop reflects a market that has grown tired of sideways trading and more nervous about what comes next. Bitcoin has spent much of 2026 moving without much follow-through, and that has worn down confidence across X, Reddit and Telegram.

That shift matters because sentiment often bends before price does. The report points out that Bitcoin has repeatedly moved opposite the crowd when fear gets loud enough. Even with the mood turning darker, the coin has not broken down sharply. It has simply kept circling the same level.

Bitcoin’s latest struggle is not a small one. It is making a seventh attempt since early February to break above $70,000. The price was around $69,550 at the time of publication, after briefly falling to $60,000 on February 5. The report also says Bitcoin remains about 45% below its record high of $126,080, set on October 6, 2025.

Traders Watch The Liquidation Map

The futures market adds another layer. Coinglass data cited in the report shows that short positions are heavily packed near $72,500, while about $2 billion in long positions sit closer to $65,000. That gap leaves the market leaning one way. If price pushes higher, some traders could be squeezed out fast, which may add fuel to the move.

The report also ties part of the weakness to outside pressures. Geopolitical tension, including the US-Iran conflict, and uncertainty around the Clarity Act are both being framed as drag on sentiment. Those issues do not move Bitcoin on their own, but they can keep buyers cautious when the market is already stuck.

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On-Chain Data Says The Market Has Not Fully Reset

Longer-term signals are less comforting. CryptoQuant data cited in the report shows Bitcoin still trading above its realized price of $54,279. That figure is often treated as a rough dividing line between normal market conditions and deeper stress. The coin has usually had to fall below that level before a stronger accumulation phase takes hold.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Crypto majors have remained under pressure despite President Trump’s talks of a US crypto reserve. Amid the tariff jitters and economic uncertainties, the market is in a risk-off mood.

Nonetheless, savvy investors continue to look for opportunities beyond the majors. Bitcoin Pepe, the first meme ICO on Bitcoin’s network, is one of the projects on meme lovers’ radar. Its one-of-a-kind infrastructure and virality have positioned it for a crypto revolution with its early adopters earning heftily in the process.

Bitcoin price caught between risk-off mood and bull run optimism

Bitcoin price is back above the crucial support zone of $85,000 after plunging below it in the previous session. However, the market remains noisy as extreme fear overshadows the highly anticipated bull run of 2025.

In the near term, the bulls will likely face resistance along the 25-day EMA at $92,177. That may yield range-bound trading with the major finding support at $85,073. Further rebounding will place the next target at $94.553. 

Bitcoin Pepe sets the stage for a crypto revolution

The meme culture has revolutionized the crypto market as savvy investors look for profitable opportunities in affordable projects with huge growth potential. The popularity of meme coins has boosted the market to a market cap of $59 billion according to CoinGecko.

It is no wonder Bitcoin Pepe, the first meme ICO on the Bitcoin network, has caught the industry by storm. About three weeks since the launch of its presale, the project has already sold out its first 5 stages. During that period, it has raised over $3.8 million. Besides, its token price has surged by 27.6% to the current $0.0268. 

Indeed, Bitcoin Pepe is designed in favor early adopters. By the end of the remaining 24 sessions, the token price will have cumulative gains of 311.4% at $0.0864.

This success is not just built on its virality; its infrastructure adds to the project’s growth potential. To begin with, it combines Solana’s speed with Bitcoin’s stability. Besides, the PEP-20 standard enables one to launch meme coins on Bitcoin. It is these factors that are set to sustain the project’s upward momentum before and after its listing in the year’s second quarter. Find out how to buy Bitcoin Pepe here.

Ripple price underperforms as talks of a crypto reserve underwhelms the market

Ripple price extended its gains on Wednesday; erasing some of the losses recorded at the start of the week. Even so, it remains under pressure as investors maintain a risk-off mood with a crypto fear & greed index of 20. Optimism over a US crypto reserve as highlighted by President Trump appears to be fading. 

A look at its daily chart shows the altcoin’s price hovering around the 25 and 50-day EMAs. In the near term, the range between $2.2631 and $2.6065 will be worth watching. Further rebounding will likely have Ripple price find resistance at $2.7450. However, this thesis will be invalidated by a pullback past the lower support zone of $2.1640.

Bitcoin and Ethereum were trading nearly flat on Thursday evening, ahead of the holiday weekend, as the global cryptocurrency market cap rose 0.2% to $811.2 billion at 7:16 p.m. EST.

See Also: A Guide To Automated Crypto Trading For Beginners

Why It Matters: While the two largest cryptocurrencies were largely lackluster in terms of price action, the bellwether meme coin, Dogecoin, was included in the list of top intraday gainers.

Hopes for a “Santa Claus” rally faded on Thursday as a sell-off in risky assets returned. Tech stocks took a beating after a major chipmaker’s numbers brought demand concerns to the fore.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed 1.45% and 2.2% lower, respectively. U.S. stock futures were seen largely flat at the time of writing. 

“Bitcoin and Ethereum are lower today as risk aversion runs wild across Wall Street. Tech stocks are getting hit the hardest, thank you Micron, and that seems like it keeps pressure on all the interest-rate sensitive sectors,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst with OANDA. 

Michaël van de Poppe described the price action of Bitcoin as “Beautiful” on Thursday. The cryptocurrency trader said that the apex coin “hit support,” had a “strong bounce since,” and now was into  a zone of “resistance.”

He said that with this response of Bitcoin — $17,400 seems to be a likely level and it was long beyond the $16,800 – $16,900 level.

Trader Justin Bennett said that it was difficult to “expect” much downside from the dollar index — the measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies. He expects a DXY bounce from 102.103. At the time of writing the dollar index was at 104.39.

This year, cryptocurrencies have had a strong inverse correlation with the dollar index. Major coins have usually followed the opposite direction to the index.

Market intelligence platform Santiment noted that the amount of coins in self-custody continues to create a new all-time high and is currently at 18.2 million BTC. Coins on exchanges are just 1.2 million BTC, a four-year low.

Santiment took a decade-long view in its tweeted data.

The trend towards self-custody has accelerated recently after the bankruptcy of Sam Bankman-Fried-led FTX.

Bankman-Fried was taken to court in New York on Thursday. He faces allegations of fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance violations. His bail was set at $250 million.

Read Next: Crime And Entanglement: How FTX’s Bankruptcy, Alameda CEO’s Guilty Plea Went Down

Chainlink (LINK) price is showing a bearish momentum as the market appears to be showing signs of fatigue.

• Chainlink price outlines bearish strides
• LINK/USD pair key support spotted at $8.54
• Pair resistance seen at $9.26

The LINK/USD pair price slips on a downtrend as seen overnight which has been predictable overall.

More so, the market also suffers a loss of 4.80% as seen in the past 24 hours and currently faces key resistance at $9.26. For now, LINK price appears to be extremely bearish with key support seen at $8.54.

LINK Price Sheds 1.83%

The daily chart reveals that the LINK/USD pair has suffered a massive decline as seen in the past 24hours. The plunge of LINK has been consistent with its bearish stance.

According to CoinMarketCap, LINK price has been down by 1.83% or trading at $8.51 as of this writing. It seems to have fallen from its support line of $8.54.

The current trading volume is down by 24.51% or at $363,041,655 with the market cap at $4 billion. Apparently, LINK price has been circling the $8 mark as seen since Sunday.

Judging by the daily price chart, the LINK/USD pair is seen to be immensely bearish for the past few hours with the MACD lingering in the bearish zone.

RSI for LINK is spotted at 42.09 and is stepping into the oversold zone which signals that market could go down further.

To date, the 50-day moving average is present at $10.48 while the 200-day moving average is hovering at $12.19 signaling that the market is having a marked decline.

Chart from TradingView.com

Chainlink MACD Line Hints At Further Retreat

The 4-hour price analysis is showing a bearish flag pattern signaling that the market is deflating further.

The LINK/USD pair is seen trading from $8.54 to $9.26, facing key resistance at $9.26 as seen in the past few hours.

The MACD line hovers above the signal line which indicates that the market could plunge further. Current RSI is below the 50 range which signifies a bearish trend.

More so, the 50-day and 200-day moving average are both falling flat and going under the current market price hinting that the market is suffering a massive downshift.

Chainlink price is showing an overall bearish momentum in the short term but would most likely nosedive with the key resistance stick at $9.26.

The market may expect some upward trend if the bulls can break past the key resistance level.

LINK total market cap at $3.8 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

Featured image from Medium, Chart from TradingView.com

Cardano’s native cryptocurrency ADA has been hovering within the $0.49 and $0.55 price range since the end of July. This is after a bit of recovery from its bottom a few weeks ago.

This range suggests that the bullish momentum has been limited and some price observations suggest that more downward pressure might be on the way.

ADA’s price action has been moving within a descending price channel since November last year. The cryptocurrency has kicked off this week with a retest of a descending resistance line that is part of the price channel.

ADA has already pulled back slightly in the last two days, indicating that there is significant bearish pressure after the resistance retest.

Source: TradingView

ADA would have to drop substantially from its current position in order to retest its long-term descending resistance line. However, price behavior near the recent lows in the last few weeks has already formed a short-term support pattern.

An extended bearish pullback would likely retest the short-term support near the $0.41 price range.

ADA has so far managed to stay above the $0.50 price zone. This indicates that ADA long-term holders are still holding on, anticipating more upside. This reflects the RSI which has maintained its position above the 50% level.

However, the RSI’s 14-day short-term moving average (SMA) dropped from 60.18 to 52.42 in the last two days. This reflects the increase in short-term sell pressure, especially after the resistance retest.

On the on-chain front, ADA’s active addresses increased dramatically in the last few days. This reflects the buildup of selling pressure as the price interacted with the resistance line.

There were 41 whale transaction counts worth more than $1 million on 8 August. The outcome triggered the ongoing sell pressure, but on 9 August.

Moreover, ADA’s age consumed metric registered its sharpest uptick in the last four weeks on 8 August. ADA’s age consumed metric affected roughly 51% of ADA.

Despite the massive amount of ADA moved, bearish activity has been relatively subdued. The explanation for this might be in ADA’s circulation which has since dropped back to 8 August levels.

Conclusion

The increase in active addresses might be a sign that investors are moving their funds in anticipation of the upcoming economic information.

This might explain the limited selling pressure despite the large amounts moved.

It could be a sign that investors have moved their funds to exchanges in anticipation of the economic outcome.

An unfavorable outcome may result in a stronger wave of sell pressure.

On the other hand, buyers might be waiting for the right conditions to buy more and potentially extend ADA’s upside.