Santiment said crypto retail investors are increasingly trying to “meta-analyse” the market downturn to determine whether prices have already bottomed.
The firm said traders are watching for signs of capitulation from others to time their own entries, behaviour it says often appears close to market lows.
“Retail traders are trying to meta-analyse the market, looking for signs of others quitting to time their own entries, which often happens near bottoms,”
Santiment said in a report on Saturday.
The analysis follows a surge in use of the term “capitulation” across crypto-focused social media, alongside rising Google searches for “crypto capitulation” in early February.
Santiment warned that if most investors are waiting for a clear capitulation signal, the market low may already have passed while sentiment remains fearful.
The debate comes as Bitcoin briefly fell to around $60,000, its lowest level since October 2024, extending a broader downtrend.
However, some analysts caution that bear markets often feature multiple capitulation phases, suggesting extreme fear alone may not confirm a durable crypto bottom.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $70,931.80.