In the past two weeks, Bitcoin [BTC] has lost its upward momentum and fallen below key levels. One was the support at $79.6k, and the other was the swing low in the 4-hour time frame at $74.9k.
The break of this last level represented a short-term structural bearish shift. AMBCrypto had highlighted how onchain signals have been pointing to bearish BTC prospects for some time.
This past week, spot Bitcoin ETFs posted outflows of $1.257 billion, the first one-week outflows since December 2025.
Coupled with the bearish regime shift findings presented earlier, BTC bulls have had a hard time staying afloat.
A structurally vulnerable Bitcoin setup
The current dip to local lows may not be the buying opportunity that some speculative participants may believe. Analyst Moreno noted in a CryptoQuant Insights post that Binance derivatives traders were becoming increasingly bullish.
Evidence of this came from rising financing rates, even as prices continued to fall.
Even more troubling is that taker buying volume has declined in recent months. Aggressive buyers haven’t taken the rally past $80,000.
Earlier in May, AMBCrypto had reported that onchain metrics and long-term trends suggested it was too early to conclude that a bull market had arrived. The absence of Taker Buy Volume was one of many signs of a lack of bullish strength.
Are leveraged bulls taking too much risk?
Rising financing rates and declining demand on the spot market made the market increasingly dependent on leveraged positioning to restore the upward trend.
This can be a dangerous play for traders who take long positions as the risk of a squeeze increases.
Crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr demonstrated how the BTC Taker Score (7SMA) rose to 84, or a high bull threshold, during the price’s rise to $77.5k on Monday, May 25.
Just a day later the score dropped to 31, the edge of the high bear threshold.
It was a microcosm of the demand depletion seen earlier in May, as Bitcoin surged past $82,000.
Unless the aggressive flow of buyers returns, price increases are for selling. Traders and investors may have a bearish outlook in the coming weeks.
Final summary
- Bitcoin saw more and more bullish leverage traders, but at the same time a lack of organic spot demand.
- This caused a dangerous divergence for leveraged BTC bulls and highlighted the continued lack of aggressive buyers behind BTC in May.