(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin continues to move toward the bottom of its recent trading range, with any rise in price seen by selling by investors who bought the largest cryptocurrency near the all-time high reached in early October. Crypto-analytics firm Glassnode said several metrics point to a “soft bearish phase,” defined by modest capital inflows outweighed by steady selling pressure from larger holders. With prices stuck in a “weak but bounded range,” the firm noted, time itself becomes a negative force as unrealized losses accumulate. Relative unrealized losses rose to 4.4%, the highest in nearly two years after spending most of that period below 2%, signaling a transition from euphoria to “increased stress and uncertainty.” FxPro’s Alex Kuptsikevich said cryptocurrencies “have already entered a bear market,” arguing that any recovery is likely to attract new sellers. Bitcoin fell as much as 3.6% to $89,502 during New York hours on Friday, sending the token on course to end the week little changed. It has tumbled nearly 30% since hitting a record high of around $126,000 on October 6. The largest cryptocurrency continued to fall with other risk assets in recent weeks, but did not recover when they did, breaking its usual upward correlation. The slide highlighted what analysts see as a market pinched by poor liquidity and fading risk appetite, even after the Federal Reserve’s rate cut on Wednesday failed to revive momentum in digital assets. Glassnode also added that implied volatility has already begun to ease and historically continues to compress after the last major macro event of the year — in this case, the December 10 FOMC meeting. Absent a hawkish surprise, the firm expects gamma sellers to re-emerge, accelerating volatility decay through the end of the year and pushing markets into a low-liquidity, mean-reversion regime. Gamma sellers are typically market makers or large institutional investors who sell option contracts and profit when the price of the underlying asset remains stable, although they face increased risk and potential losses during sharp price movements. The macro backdrop increasingly shaped crypto price action, according to Mitch Galer, a trader at GSR. He said trade flows have been disproportionately impacted in recent months — a hallmark of bearish conditions — amid a U.S. government shutdown that limits access to Fed information, uncertain policy trajectories and geopolitical unpredictability. While Galer expects short-term volatility to remain high, he sees room for a year-end rebound as sentiment is “heavily negative” but markets are no longer bearish. Meanwhile, Timothy Misir, head of research at digital asset analysis firm BRN, said the market’s stabilization rests on a “fragile foundation,” with thin liquidity and fragmented ETF flows showing an industry “looking for direction rather than committing to one.” More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com ©2025 Bloomberg LP