Indicator Suggests Bitcoin May Need to Fall Another 15% to Confirm a Bottom

Bitcoin price swings are closely tied to investor holding behavior. On-chain analytics platform Glassnode said realized losses among long-term holders who have held Bitcoin for one to two years are often a key indicator for predicting market cycles when the market reverses. A slowdown in selling pressure from this group can help investors assess when the next bear-market bottom may occur.

According to the latest Glassnode data released in July 2026, investors who bought Bitcoin at $107,000 a year earlier are showing early signs that the 2026 bear-market bottom is approaching. Meanwhile, the average cost basis of short-term speculators has reinforced $69,000 as the next key battleground between Bitcoin bulls and bears.

Bitcoin rebounded after the crypto market’s deleveraging in 2022, but its price remains sensitive to capital flows and technical support levels. The pseudonymous analyst PlanB assesses market cycles using realized price and the 200-week moving average. Investors often use these indicators to gauge whether a bear market has bottomed, drawing attention to the latest warning.

Bitcoin fell 20.5% in June and ended the month at $58,526, marking its worst June performance since June 2022. PlanB said the price remained above realized price but was below the 200-week moving average, suggesting a bottom might not yet have formed. Bitcoin could fall further to $52,000, the analyst warned.

Bitcoin is closing in on the $60,000 level in a bear market, with large bids and asks on exchange order books potentially becoming targets for a liquidity sweep. CoinGlass data shows that $50,000–$60,000 is the main liquidity cluster. A drop below support followed by a swift rebound could establish the macro bottom for this bear market and catch short sellers off guard.

Cointelegraph cited pseudonymous trader Killa on June 19, 2026, as saying Bitcoin could sweep liquidity below $60,000 in the third quarter, no later than September, without necessarily reaching the $50,000 level widely targeted by the market. Daan Crypto Trades said bulls must defend $61,000–$62,000, while Exitpump observed on June 18 that short-term bearish positioning on Binance was becoming more aggressive.

Bitcoin's supply schedule is shaped by block-reward halvings that occur about once every four years, and markets often use post-halving cycles to estimate shifts between bull and bear markets. CryptoQuant onchain data show that cyclical bottoms in historical price patterns have often occurred between September and November. Whether the current downturn will persist through the end of 2026 has therefore become an important factor in investors' risk assessments.

Several analysts have recently used historical halving cycles and price models to estimate that Bitcoin may not bottom until the fourth quarter of 2026, with October seen as a potential turning point. Forecasts vary by model: more conservative estimates put the bottom at about $40,000–$50,000, while a bearish scenario points to a possible drop to $30,000. The main market consensus centers on $30,000–$45,000.

On-chain data platform Glassnode assesses Bitcoin market cycles using investors’ cost bases and unrealized profits and losses. Its “median holder breakeven level” marks the cost threshold dividing investors in half. A move below that level typically signals mounting market pressure and may indicate that Bitcoin is gradually entering a historically low valuation range.

Glassnode co-founder Rafael most recently said Bitcoin had fallen below the median holder breakeven level. Based on historical cycles and on-chain valuations, he estimated that the market is likely to bottom between $46,000 and $54,000 in the current cycle. He also said drawdowns from the peak have been gradually shrinking with each cycle, while stressing that the projected bottom is not a definitive price target.

Bitcoin cycle bottoms typically require confirmation across several on-chain and derivatives indicators. Realized cap reflects holders' cost basis, RHODL measures the balance between long- and short-term holders, and funding rates capture sentiment in perpetual futures markets. A simultaneous stabilization across all three can therefore provide an important signal.

The latest analysis suggests Bitcoin's selloff to about $60,000 in February may have established a cyclical bottom. Realized cap remained stable at the time, RHODL readings entered a bottoming range and perpetual futures funding rates turned negative. Those signals suggest leveraged long positions were flushed out and that selling pressure may have been released in a concentrated burst.

Bitcoin has fallen by more than half from its record high of $126,000 to below $60,000 in February 2026, and the market is now assessing whether its recent rebound marks a price bottom. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said the realized market average of $78,200 and the short-term holder cost basis of $79,100 are key benchmarks for confirming a structural recovery.

On May 7, Glassnode said BTC had risen 7% in a week to about $81,000, with the next structural resistance at $85,200. CryptoQuant analyst IT Tech, however, argued that it must break above and hold $88,880. The price retested $79,000 on May 8 before rebounding to $80,000, but US spot ETFs recorded net outflows of $277.5 million the previous day, leaving overhead selling pressure to be absorbed.

Bitcoin’s market bottom is often estimated using declines, cycle duration and cost ranges from previous bull and bear markets, making $57,000 a potential support benchmark. Historical averages can help investors assess downside risk, but they do not guarantee prices and remain subject to capital flows, macroeconomic conditions and market sentiment.

A recent report cited an analyst as saying historical averages suggest Bitcoin could bottom near $57,000 in the current cycle. The available information does not identify the analyst or their firm, specify the period covered by the model or give the report’s publication date. The level can therefore only be treated as a cycle benchmark for now, rather than a confirmed market bottom.

Bitcoin’s 50-week and 100-week moving averages are widely viewed as key indicators of its long-term cycle. Since 2015, a specific signal formed by the two averages has accurately coincided with every major market bottom, making it a common gauge for whether a bear market is nearing its end.

The latest data show that the long-term indicator has yet to flash a bottom signal, suggesting the market may not have definitively bottomed. Meanwhile, the U.S. government recently transferred about $606,000 worth of Bitcoin linked to the 2016 Bitfinex hack to Coinbase Prime, drawing attention to how the assets may ultimately be handled.

Bitcoin prices often move through bull and bear cycles shaped by halving cycles and market liquidity. On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant uses indicators including the MVRV Z-score to measure how far market value has diverged from realized value, helping it assess pressure from investor losses and identify long-term bottom zones.

CryptoQuant's latest analysis estimates that Bitcoin could face another shakeout in the second half of 2026 and hit an “iron bottom” of about $55,000 around December. It describes the current market as the middle of a grueling marathon and says another round of position-clearing is needed before a subsequent rebound can begin.