Crypto Traders Lean Bearish as Bitcoin Hovers Above $26K; DOGE, XRP Dip Most Among Majors

Bitcoin (BTC) watchers are leaning bearish in the short term but expect prices to pick up once the anticipated halving event is complete in 2024, with expectations of a consolidation period until then.

The industry’s oldest asset saw a tepid weekend marked by price stability and low volumes, nearing the $26,000 level, losing 1.7% in the past 24 hours.

Major tokens such as XRP and dogecoin (DOGE) led declines, with drops of 4% in the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) fell 0.9%, outperforming the general market, as the CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), a broad-based tracker of hundreds of tokens, slumped 1.1%.

Aptos's APT, Chainlink’s LINK and gaming platform ImmutableX’s IMX were the only tokens in the green, rising as much as 6% on various growth – and fake – catalysts.

Analysts at trading firm FxPro told CoinDesk in a note they remain bearish for the next few weeks, expecting prices to reach as low as $23,000 amid the general lack of interest in trading riskier assets and the absence of market-moving catalysts.

However, there’s still hope for bulls. On-chain data platform CryptoQuant published in a weekly note that bitcoin's recent price performance closely resembled past cycles, suggesting that the asset was “likely to remain in a consolidation phase until the 2024 halving event” but hinted at a “significant price increase after the halving.”

“This assessment is supported by various long-term valuation metrics, including logarithmic growth curves,” analysts at CryptoQuant wrote. “There’s also the realized cap of short-term user transactions (UTXOs), which indicates under-valuation and the absence of widespread retail speculation, reinforcing the potential for future price growth.”

Bitcoin prices have historically boomed after its halving, a term when block rewards are slashed in half in typically four-year cycles. The estimated date for the next halving is Apr. 21, data shows.