The price of Bitcoin (BTC) briefly strengthened and managed to break through the $88,000 level this week, which made many traders optimistic about further increases. However, due to not being able to reach higher levels, there are specific concerns among investors.
According to cointelegraph.com, the crypto analysis platform Alphractal states that large investors, commonly referred to as whales, have begun to open short positions around the price of $88,000. In its latest post on X, Alphractal showed that the ‘Whale Position Sentiment’ metric, which measures the relationship between large transactions and market interest, has suddenly reversed direction. This means that whales are now starting to take positions to profit if the price falls.
Alphractal explains that when this metric starts to decline, even though prices are still rising, it is a strong indication that whales are engaging in short selling.
The CEO of Alphractal, Joao Wedson, also added that whales have closed their long positions. History shows that the direction of Bitcoin's price movement often follows the actions of whales.
Meanwhile, another analytics platform, CryptoQuant, shows that 8 out of 10 on-chain indicators are now signaling bearish (decline). Only two indicators, namely stablecoin liquidity and technical signals, have not yet turned negative. CryptoQuant's CEO, Ki Young Ju, even predicts that the market could move sideways or decline for the next 6 to 12 months.
However, there are also positive signals. Data from IntoTheBlock shows that a number of investors are actually withdrawing Bitcoin from exchanges, a sign that they intend to hold long-term. In the last 7 days (March 18-24), a total of $424 million in Bitcoin left exchanges, including $220 million in just one day. This is usually seen as a sign that investors believe prices will rise in the future.
Technically, Bitcoin recorded an intraday high of $88,752 on March 24, but has yet to break through that level. Currently, price movements are still following an ascending channel pattern, with resistance in the area of the pattern and the 50 and 100-day moving averages (EMA).