Bitcoin Teeters at $71K as Miners Dump 15,000 BTC, Death Cross Looms and DCA Emerges as the Cycle’s Safest Bet
Bitcoin (BTC) is facing a critical "moment of truth" as its recent surge toward $74,000 lost steam, dropping over 2% in the past 24 hours
Quick overview
- Bitcoin has faced a significant retreat from recent highs near $74,000, currently holding around $71,000 amidst escalating miner liquidations.
- Publicly listed miners have sold over 15,000 BTC since October, with some companies liquidating substantial portions of their holdings due to challenging market conditions.
- Technical indicators suggest a potential 'death cross' on the weekly chart, raising concerns about further bearish consolidation in the near term.
- Despite short-term pressures, long-term dollar-cost averaging strategies show promising returns, indicating a structural bull case for Bitcoin remains intact.
A brief run to one-month highs near $74,000 ran out of steam, leaving the market at what several analysts are referring to as a significant inflection point, and Bitcoin BTC/USD is now holding onto the $71,000 level. Bulls trying to announce a trend reversal face a challenging picture as the retreat occurs against a backdrop of escalating miner liquidations, diminishing exchange sell-side pressure, and a possibly historic bearish signal building on the weekly chart.
Publicly Listed Miners Have Sold Over 15,000 BTC Since October’s Peak
A broad reversal of the self-treasury strategy that characterized Bitcoin mining operations throughout the 2024–2025 upcycle is the most important structural change supporting the current sell-off. Data gathered by TheEnergyMag’s Miner Weekly newsletter shows that since October, when prices peaked before a historic flash crash sparked industry-wide deleveraging, publicly traded miners have collectively sold off more over 15,000 BTC.
The size of individual sales is impressive. In February alone, Cango liquidated 4,451 BTC, or around 60% of its total reserve holdings. According to reports, Bitdeer liquidated its entire Bitcoin holdings last month. Core Scientific has indicated plans to sell roughly 2,500 BTC during Q1, while Riot Platforms carried out many transactions through December. According to some observers, the current margin conditions are the worst on record for the mining industry, and the trend indicates a sharp tightening of mining economics.
With more than 53,000 BTC, MARA Holdings is the second-biggest public corporate Bitcoin holder in the world and the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner. This week, it came under special scrutiny when new regulatory filings indicated it may purchase and sell Bitcoin to preserve “flexibility and optionality.” The filing temporarily shook markets, highlighting how sensitive sentiment has become to any indication of institutional selling, even though the company’s vice president, Robert Samuels, moved swiftly to emphasize there are no plans for full liquidation.
Technical Warning: ‘Death Cross’ Threatens to Confirm on the Weekly Chart
For short-term bulls, the technical picture on the price charts is becoming more unsettling. At Thursday’s Wall Street beginning, BTC/USD experienced a dramatic reversal, losing 1.5% in a single session after breaching above $74,000 to reach its highest level in a month. In order to maintain any positive recovery narrative, the market is currently testing important long-term levels that need to hold as support.
A death cross, the bearish crossover of the 50-week and 200-week moving averages, that several analysts caution is getting closer to confirmation on the weekly timescale exacerbates the technical concern. In the past, these signs have come before protracted bearish consolidation. Trader Jelle called the current situation a moment of truth, comparing it to a consolidation pattern that ended up resolving to the downside in late 2025.
However, not all technical evidence is negative. According to commentator exitpump, the order book imbalance is not as negative as it should be for a market in a true collapse, and data from Binance’s spot order book reveals abnormally significant bid-side depth. A noteworthy divergence from price decline that may limit additional fall is the fact that spot sell pressure on major exchanges has really cooled off this month, according to trader Castillo Trading.
DCA Investors: Five Years of Weekly Buys Turns $67,500 Into $120,000
The data case for long-term Bitcoin accumulation through dollar-cost averaging (DCA) has rarely appeared more clearly defined, while short-term traders traverse a perilous tape. According to historical backtests, a $250 weekly Bitcoin purchase started in January 2021 has increased a $67,500 total investment into almost $120,500 at current prices, a 76% return, through crashes, crises, and currently a 50%+ fall from the cycle peak. That identical stack was worth more than $208,000 at the cycle high in October 2025, which was close to $126,000.
For patient investors, forward-looking forecasts based on Bitcoin’s long-term power-law growth model provide further context. Starting in January 2026, a $250 monthly DCA would accrue around 0.30 BTC over four years, for a total cost of $54,250. By March 2030, those stocks would be valued about $129,000 if median power-law price projections put Bitcoin close to $430,000. The identical stack would be worth around $270,000 in a higher-end expansion scenario that costs close to $900,000.
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Near-Term Bearish Pressure, Long-Term Structural Bull Case Intact
The near-term picture for Bitcoin is cautious when considering the miner-selling overhang, the impending death cross, and the waning impetus from the $74,000 rejection against strong order book depth and historically strong DCA returns. It seems likely that the $65,000–$68,000 support zone will be retested in the upcoming weeks, especially if miner liquidations keep speeding up or if overall risk sentiment worsens.
However, these short-term variations become less significant over longer time horizons. For investors dedicated to multi-year accumulation windows, research consistently demonstrates that drawdown intensity has little effect on outcomes. Bitcoin’s current price, regardless of where it goes in the coming month, is still, by any historical standard, an early-innings position in a long-running asset repricing cycle for investors who are prepared to endure volatility.
- Check out our free forex signals
- Follow the top economic events on FX Leaders economic calendar
- Trade better, discover more Forex Trading Strategies
- Open a FREE Trading Account
- Read our latest reviews on: Avatrade, Exness, HFM and XM
Save