Bitcoin’s latest rebound has not done much to settle the argument among crypto analysts over where this cycle really is right now.
A technical analysis posted on X claims the market is once again tracing the same structure seen in prior bear phases, only this time with a slower tempo, deeper institutional involvement, and a more controlled trading environment. However, the outlook of this analysis is that the downtrend is still not complete.
Familiar Bitcoin Script Is Showing Up Again
The concept of the analysis is that the Bitcoin price keeps moving through the same emotional and structural framework from one cycle to the next. In that framework, the Bitcoin price first pushes into a parabolic advance, then enters distribution, suffers a violent break lower, stages a misleading recovery, and eventually grinds into a final capitulation.
That is the same pattern that appeared in 2018 and again in 2022, and in this reading, 2026 is now occupying the same late-stage position, only on a larger scale and with lower volatility.
That timing element is important, and it supports an extended bearish case in the months to come. History shows prior cycle bottoms formed a year after the all-time high, not immediately after the first large drawdown. By that logic, the Bitcoin price may still be too early in the process for a lasting bottom, especially if this cycle peak is treated as the October 2025 high at $126,080.
Where Does Bitcoin Go From Here?
The technical structure is only part of the case. Technical analysis from a crypto analyst known as BLADE on the social media platform X leaned on on-chain signals, particularly long-term holder stress and NUPL, to argue that the reset is incomplete.
Glassnode’s Net Unrealized Profit/Loss measures whether the network is sitting on aggregate paper profits or losses. The farther it moves from zero, the closer the market tends to get to major extremes. What this means is that true cycle lows usually arrive when investors are much deeper in pain, and sentiment has turned miserable.
CryptoQuant said on April 1 that Bitcoin spot demand is still in deep contraction despite growing institutional buying. This means that the market’s internal strength has not fully caught up with headline demand from large allocators, and the Bitcoin price might continue to struggle until it does.
There’s also an interesting template that Bitcoin might follow based on its previous two major bear markets. The 2017 bull run peaked and gave way to a bear market that ultimately caused an approximately 84% drawdown from top to bottom. The 2021 cycle followed a similar script, with Bitcoin’s top-to-bottom decline ending at about 77%.
At current prices around $74,680, Bitcoin is trading 40.8% below that October top, which means there could be more downside ahead. Furthermore, previous bear market bottoms arrived about 360 to 370 days after the prior cycle’s peak. This sequence would point to a potential cycle bottom somewhere in Q3 or Q4 2026.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
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