MarketsEthereum
|3 min ReadBitcoin indicators turn bearish as price retakes $116K
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Signals flash red as price pops
Bitcoin bounced. It touched $116,000 on Friday. A 1.5 percent daily gain. Yet the internals turned cold. Eight of ten CryptoQuant Bull Score Index indicators are bearish. “Momentum is clearly cooling,” CryptoQuant analyst JA Maartun said on Thursday.
Only two signals still read bullish. “Bitcoin demand growth.” “Technical signal.” Demand growth tracks buying interest and has been bullish since July. The technical signal reflects common TA metrics.
The rest are in the red. MVRV-Z score. Profit and loss index. Bull bear cycle indicator. Inter exchange flow pulse. Network activity index. Stablecoin liquidity. Trader on-chain profit margin. Trader realized price. MVRV-Z compares price to realized value. Profit and loss shows supply in profit. Cycle gauges sentiment. Exchange flow tracks coins moving to and from exchanges.
We have seen this mix before. In April, eight of ten were bearish. Bitcoin fell to
122,800.Where we are in the cycle
CryptoQuant’s combined Bull Score Index has hovered between 20 and 30 this month. The correction is not done. Another lens says we are deep in the run. The CoinGlass Crypto Bitcoin Bull Run Index is registering 74. That is roughly three-quarters through a bull market by its model.
Only one of CoinGlass’ 30 bull market peak indicators has flashed. The altcoin season index. Related: Altseason index hits highest level this year: Here’s what traders think.
Bitcoin lagged this week. It trailed altcoins, equities, and spot gold. That is the read from Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus. Net buying slowed. Treasury buying fell off. Centralized exchanges reported low new capital on-ramping. “Investors [are] preferring to stay within the equity proxies,” she told Cointelegraph. Her team favors a defensive stance. Seasonality for risk assets is tough.
Others see standard September chop. They expect an extended bull market. “Global Liquidity has recovered and is attempting to hit a new high,” crypto podcaster Tony Edward observed. He sees a possible local top in Q4 and a blowoff top in Q1 2026.
What it means right now
BTC reclaimed $116,000 for the first time in three weeks. It sits 6.8 percent below the all-time high. The drawdown is shallower than in prior cycles. Bulls still have time. Bears have signals. You have a choice.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.