Bitcoin’s recent calm may be masking mounting pressure rather than preparing for a breakout. In its newest assessment, blockchain analytics firm Glassnode suggests that the market is sliding into a slow-burn stress phase — one where buyers are still present, but momentum has evaporated.
The striking detail in Glassnode’s analysis is that demand hasn’t disappeared. There are still investors quietly accumulating whenever Bitcoin dips toward perceived value zones. This undercurrent is preventing severe breakdowns, allowing the asset to hover above deeper structural thresholds.
Key Takeaways
Glassnode says Bitcoin is holding up, but momentum and conviction are weakening.
Two key price levels — around $95,000 and $102,700 — must be reclaimed to restore strength.
Unrealized loss metrics are climbing, signaling rising investor stress.
ETF outflows, thin liquidity, and growing demand for downside hedging point to cautious sentiment.
But what looks like strength is also stagnation. Price action is trapped inside a narrow corridor, and Glassnode argues that time itself is becoming an enemy to the bullish narrative. The longer Bitcoin drifts sideways, the more fragile sentiment becomes.
Critical Levels Act as Gatekeepers
Glassnode identifies two price milestones that function as psychological and structural checkpoints. One sits near $95,000, tied to cost dynamics within the current quarter. The other sits around $102,700, representing the level where short-term holders previously established support.
Until both are reclaimed, Bitcoin will likely continue oscillating around a potential base forming near $81,300, which Glassnode frames as a provisional defensive line rather than a springboard.
Loss Metrics Highlight Hidden Stress
Under the surface, pressure is increasing. Long-term holders have been taking profit, unrealized losses across the network are expanding, and realized losses show that capitulation pockets are emerging.
Glassnode highlights the spike in Relative Unrealized Loss — now exceeding 4% — as a sign that sentiment is wearing thin. The last time the metric reached such levels was nearly two years ago, a period marked by heightened fragility.
Market Plumbing Suggests Appetite Is Thin
On the institutional side, ETF flows have tilted negative. Liquidity in spot markets remains shallow, meaning fewer buyers are stepping in size. Meanwhile, futures traders are largely absent, and options markets show a growing bid for downside protection rather than upside speculation.
Taken together, these signals form a picture of a market bracing for movement but unwilling to lead it.
With the final Federal Reserve policy meeting of the year approaching, traders are waiting for a directional trigger. Glassnode believes volatility will likely resolve only after this macro event, but warns that without easing selling pressure and stronger liquidity, Bitcoin risks extending its muted behavior.
The Bigger Takeaway: A Market Alive, but Not Advancing
In essence, Glassnode characterizes the current state as “weak but surviving.” The cryptocurrency remains supported, but lacks momentum — a standstill that could persist if confidence, liquidity, and structural support levels fail to improve.
Absent a catalyst, Bitcoin may spend more time in this psychologically draining period, where the greatest challenge isn’t price collapse but the slow erosion of investor conviction.
