$BTC price has surged above 73,000 earlier in the day, which has again attracted the interest of traders. However CryptoQuant said that the move is probably a reduction in the selling pressure as opposed to a structural change.
The director of research at CryptoQuant, Julio Moreno, said that the asset was still in a bear market. He claimed that the basic and technical indicators are still pointing to a bearish market.
In a report published by Moreno, Bitcoin has not yet reached a bull market, even following the recent price increase. He further opined that the rally should be seen as relief bounce in a continuing slump.
The Marketplace Pressures Off and the Spot Demand Enhances
CryptoQuant information displays that the seeming spot demand narrowing has been diminished. The measure went up compared to approximately negative 136 000 BTC at the beginning of 2026 to approximately negative 25000 BTC. This change is an indication that pressure to sell has reduced since early February. A decrease in the supply in the market has favored the new price trend.
U.S. investor demand has also improved. Coinbase premium index shifted its levels that were deeply negative at the beginning of February to the most positive since October levels.
This shift means that the purchasing activity of the United States based traders has gone up. The demand in the spot market is no longer going downwards but is experiencing slight growth.
Long Term Holders Decrease Selling Activity
Traders and long term holders have also reduced in selling. According to Moreno, traders incurred losses that were not actualized at a scale not seen since July 2022. In the past, unrealized losses of a large magnitude are known to lower marginal selling. When the losses have already increased significantly, traders are not usually keen on getting out of the positions.
The selling by the long-term holders has taken an abrupt hit in the past few months. The selling rate per month decreased to some 276,000 BTC in the last 30 days compared to approximately 904 000 BTC at the end of November.
This is the least it has ever sold on long-term holders since June 2025. Reduced distribution out of these wallets has helped stabilize the prices.
Irrespective of these developments, CryptoQuant has a low Bitcoin Bull Score Index. The index has been rated as 10 out of 100 meaning that there is little evidence of a new bullish phase.
Levels of resistance and Widening market context
Moreno indicated that in case Bitcoin further rises, resistance may be seen at around $79,000. This level is consistent with the lower range of onchain realized price of traders.
In the past, this band has been resistance in bear markets. The greater opposition level can appear in the areas of the 90,000 range. This level is equal to the realized price of the overall traders. In the beginning of this year, the band raised between 80 and 98,000 during a rally.
Bitcoin is currently trading at around 71,160. Market data has the asset falling by nearly 3% in the last 24 hours. Onchain data by Santiment indicate that non-empty wallets of Bitcoin registered 58.45 million. In the meantime, the exchange wallet balances are at their lowest since December 2017.
CryptoQuant is convinced that the present rebound is in a larger bearish regime. The company indicated that macro and onchain measures continue to reveal a recovering market instead of a growing one.