The cryptocurrency market is currently in a state of range-bound trading, and this is true, especially for the price of Bitcoin.

BTC seems to have been restricted to the price range between $18,000 and $24,000 for the past few months, as neither bears nor bulls have been able to take control. And as a result of this, the market has been in a prolonged chop – one of the most reliable signs of a bear market, especially when the price is moving downward.

An analyst from the popular cryptocurrency research platform CryptoQuant has given a few more reasons why the Bitcoin bear market will not be ending soon.

According to the analyst, one sign that the price of Bitcoin doesn’t seem to have a lot of catalysts to push for an increase is the significant lack of demand.

He pointed out that funding rates in the futures market turned negative when the price of BTC dropped from the $22K level and while it is consolidating around the $19K mark.

However, the metric’s values are lower by a huge margin in comparison to the 2019-2021 period, which indicates inactivity in the futures market and a massive lack of demand, which usually results in a period where price begins to consolidate and trade in a range.

The analyst concluded that this particular metric should be monitored closely, especially in the short term, because negative values to the extreme will most likely cause an “increase in the probability of a short-squeeze and may cause the price of cryptocurrencies to reverse.”

Bitcoin bear markets are known for periods of slow bleeding as prices depreciate while the volatility thins out.

However, it can also provide opportunities for those who are looking to invest in BTC.

Featured Image Source: Forbes.com