Within the past two weeks, Bitcoin [BTC] has shed its upward momentum and fallen below key levels. One of them was the $79.6k support, and the other was the swing low in the 4-hour timeframe at $74.9k.
The breach of the latter level represented a short-term bearish structural shift. AMBCrypto had highlighted how onchain signals had been pointing to a bearish BTC outlook for a while now.
Over the past week, the spot Bitcoin ETF flows showed a $1.257 billion outflow, the first week-long outflows since December 2025.
In combination with the bearish regime shift findings presented earlier, BTC bulls have had a tough time staying afloat.
A structurally fragile Bitcoin setup
The current dip to the local lows might not be the buying opportunity some speculative participants might believe it to be. Analyst Moreno observed in a CryptoQuant Insights post that Binance derivatives traders were becoming increasingly bullish.
Evidence for this came from the rising Funding Rates, even as the price fell further.
More distressingly, the Taker Buy Volume has been in decline in recent months. Aggressive buyers have not fueled the rally past $80k.
Earlier in May, AMBCrypto had reported that onchain metrics and long-term trends suggested that 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?
The rising Funding Rates and falling spot demand meant the market was increasingly dependent on leveraged positioning to re-establish its uptrend.
This can be a dangerous game for traders taking long positions, as it heightens the risk of a squeeze.
Crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr demonstrated how the BTC Taker Score (7SMA) surged to 84, or a high bull threshold, during the price bounce to $77.5k on Monday, the 25th of May.
Just a day later, the score fell to 31, the edge of the high bear threshold.
It was a microcosm of the demand exhaustion that was seen earlier in May, during Bitcoin’s foray past $82k.
Unless aggressive buyer flow returns, price bounces are for selling. Traders and investors can have a bearish outlook for the coming weeks.
Final Summary
- Bitcoin saw increasingly bullish leverage traders but, simultaneously, a lack of organic spot demand.
- This set up a dangerous divergence for leveraged BTC bulls and highlighted the consistent lack of aggressive buyers behind BTC in May.