Bitcoin is facing renewed pressure from institutional selling, weakening technical indicators and shifting investor sentiment, raising concerns among analysts that the world's largest cryptocurrency could test the $50,000 level after losing more than half its value from last year's peak.
The latest selloff comes as investors pull billions of dollars from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and rotate capital toward traditional equity markets that have significantly outperformed digital assets in recent months. Market participants are also closely watching a bearish chart pattern known as a "death cross," which has historically been associated with prolonged periods of weakness.
According to data cited by Benzinga, approximately $5.4 billion has exited Bitcoin ETFs during the past four weeks. The withdrawals have coincided with Bitcoin's inability to sustain recent rallies, despite a brief recovery that pushed prices above $62,000 over the weekend.
The outflows represent a sharp reversal from the enthusiasm that followed the launch and expansion of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Total assets held by those products have reportedly fallen from a peak of roughly $130 billion to about $75 billion, while cumulative net inflows have declined to approximately $53.9 billion.
For technical analysts, the focus has shifted to Bitcoin's weekly chart structure. A death cross forms when a shorter-term moving average falls below a longer-term moving average, often signaling deteriorating momentum.
In Bitcoin's case, analysts are monitoring the relationship between longer-term weighted moving averages that appear to be converging toward a bearish crossover. While death crosses are frequently viewed as lagging indicators rather than predictive tools, they remain one of the most closely watched technical signals in financial markets.
The cryptocurrency has already fallen more than 50% from its October 2025 high of approximately $126,000. The decline has erased more than $63,000 per coin in market value and raised questions about whether the rally that followed the ETF boom represented a sustainable cycle or a temporary surge fueled by institutional demand.
At the same time, investors have found attractive alternatives elsewhere.
Recent market performance has highlighted the contrast:
- Nasdaq 100 gains exceeding 20%
- S&P 500 gains of roughly 10%
- Bitcoin down more than 50% from its peak
That divergence has encouraged some portfolio managers to shift capital away from digital assets and toward traditional equities.
Another factor contributing to uncertainty has been the evolving stance of major Bitcoin holders. Strategy Inc., formerly known as MicroStrategy and led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, recently disclosed a small Bitcoin sale.
"We will probably sell some Bitcoin to pay a dividend just to inoculate the market and send the message that we did it," Saylor said in comments cited by Forbes.
He added that the company intended to "buy Bitcoin with credit ... let it appreciate, and then ... sell bitcoin to pay the dividend."
Although the transaction involved only 32 Bitcoin and represented a tiny fraction of Strategy's reported holdings of 843,706 Bitcoin, the move attracted attention because it appeared to conflict with the company's long-standing "never sell" philosophy.
"Because Strategy recently sold 32 Bitcoin, contrary to the 'never sell' mantra of the company, it's creating uncertainty even if the scale of the sale was modest," Richard Green, head of RootstockLabs, told Forbes.
Macroeconomic concerns are adding another layer of pressure. Investors are awaiting upcoming U.S. inflation data amid expectations that consumer prices remain elevated. Strong inflation readings could reinforce expectations that interest rates will stay higher for longer, a scenario that has historically weighed on speculative assets, including cryptocurrencies.
