Since reaching a weekly high of $88,752 on March 24, Bitcoin (BTC) price has formed a series of lower highs and lower lows in the 1-hour time frame chart.
As the end of the week approaches, Bitcoin price has failed to break above the $88,000 resistance, reducing the chance for a $90,000 retest before the end of Q1.
Bitcoin 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
What is keeping Bitcoin under $90K?
One major reason for Bitcoin’s current price struggles is constant sell-side pressure from short-term holders (STHs) or investors holding coins for less than 155 days. Glassnode’s “The Week On-chain” newsletter noted that the current Bitcoin cycle has witnessed a “top heavy” market where investors who purchased BTC at higher prices hold a significant portion of Bitcoin’s supply. As a result, the STH cohort have become the primary group facing the largest price drawdown since Bitcoin’s 30% correction from its all-time high.
In the report, Glassnode analysts said,
“Volume of Short-Term Holder supply held in loss surging to a massive 3.4M BTC. This is the largest volume of STH supply in loss since July 2018.”
Bitcoin total supply in loss held by STHs. Source: Glassnode
The selling pressure faced by the short-term holders is reflected in Bitcoin’s accumulation trend score.
Bitcoin’s accumulation trend score, a metric that quantifies selling pressure, remained below 0.1 since BTC price dropped from $108,000 to the $93,000-$97,000 range. A score under 0.5 signals distribution (selling) instead of accumulation, and a sub-0.1 value highlights intense selling pressure.
Another reason Bitcoin has struggled to break through the $90,000 threshold is due to the contraction of liquidity conditions. Data suggests that onchain transfer volumes have dropped to $5.2 billion daily, a steep 47% decline from the peak during the rally to all-time highs. Similarly, the active address count has also decreased by 18%, dropping from 950,000 in November 2024 to 780,000.
At the same time, the open interest (OI) in the BTC futures market dropped 24% from $71.85 billion to $54.65 billion, with the perpetual futures funding…
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