Is today’s decline just the start of bitcoin’s troubles?
It was just a couple of days ago when the crypto community was celebrating the progress on the CLARITY Act and the subsequent price revival for BTC and many altcoins. The market leader exploded from under $79,000 to $82,000 in minutes after the bill passed the Senate Banking Committee, but it couldn’t maintain its run and quickly erased all the gains.
Moreover, the bears took it a step further earlier today, pushing the asset to a two-week low of well under $78,000. This comes amid analysts outlining potential reasons for yet another decline, maybe to a new local low of $63,000.
Will BTC Keep Dropping?
The first major warning sign was cited by Ali Martinez, who argued that bitcoin miners have continued to dispose of their assets. According to data he took from CryptoQuant, miners have reduced their holdings by 800 BTC, worth around $64 million, in the past several days alone. Martinez warned that this “increase in selling pressure could soon impact price action.”
Merlijn The Trader weighed in on BTC’s recent performance, especially the surge to $82,000 and slightly above that. While many celebrated the move as the end of the bear market, he believes it’s actually a trap.
Moreover, he warned that the cryptocurrency is “setting up for a brutal dump toward $63,000.” He believes this is the biggest bull trap since the early January rejection at $96,000, which ultimately sent the asset plunging to $60,000 within weeks.
WARNING:
The relief rally everyone is celebrating. Is the trap.
Bitcoin setting up for a brutal dump toward $63,000.
The biggest bull trap since the $96K rejection.Think about it.
You need buyers to sell to.
The relief rally creates them.Sell in May. Death Cross. Head… pic.twitter.com/rHDSjbrSHR
— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) May 16, 2026
Or Maybe It’s Not So Bad?
In contrast to Merlijn’s opinion, Michaël van de Poppe said that just because BTC has seemingly lost the $80,000 support, it doesn’t mean that it necessarily will “crash all the way towards new lows.”
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Instead, he mentioned the COVID-19-induced crash and the subsequent recovery, which didn’t see major 10% corrections at all. Back then, BTC “went up in a straight line.”
“Sure, after such a bounce, it’s normal to be expecting some consolidation and profit-taking; however, it’s irrational to be expecting a 20% correction on the $NQ,” he concluded.
