A key technical signal that has foreshadowed the final capitulation phase of previous Bitcoin (BTC) bear markets is flashing again.
According to chartist Ali Martinez, a “death cross” on the three-day chart could be confirmed in late February, potentially sending BTC to $40,000 or even $30,000.
The Death Cross Pattern and What History Shows
Martinez pointed to the three-day chart as a crucial timeframe for understanding Bitcoin’s macro structure, noting that the interaction between the 50 and 200 simple moving averages on this chart has reliably signaled the last major downside move since 2014.
“The death cross between these two moving averages on the 3-day chart has consistently preceded the final leg down of a bear market,” the trader wrote.
Following the 2013 top, Bitcoin dropped more than 72% before the death cross printed in December 2014, after which it fell another 52%. After the 2017 peak, the death cross appeared in November 2018, coming just before a final 50% decline. The signal emerged again in May 2022, following the 2021 top, which led to an additional 45% drop.
Bitcoin registered a new all-time high (ATH) in October 2025 when it went above $126,000, but the current price, which had recovered to just over $66,000 at the time of writing after earlier shedding about $4,000 in only a matter of hours, is nearly 48% below that ATH.
With a potential death cross projected for late February, Martinez warns that if history repeats even partially, a further 30% decline would place Bitcoin near $40,000, while a 50% drop could take it to $30,000.
However, the market watcher was quick to note that there were no guarantees the price drops would happen, even though the current structure matches up with historical setups that led to the last major downside moves before macro bottoms formed.
Market Reaction and On-Chain Divergence
Bitcoin is currently down about 2.5% in the last 24 hours and more than 4% over the past week. It has also lost nearly 27% of its value in the past month, a drop exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of a 10% (later upgraded to 15%) temporary global tariff after the country’s Supreme Court struck down many of the previous tariffs the Trump administration had imposed under a 1977 emergency law.
As seen during past tariff-related volatility, the impact on Bitcoin wasn’t immediate but arrived once legacy futures markets opened. It also sparked a coordinated bearish impulse in the futures market, with data from analyst Axel Adler Jr. showing that taker sell volume spiked to $2.3 billion in a single hour, accompanied by forced long liquidations of approximately 1,247 BTC worth more than $81 million.
Santiment data confirmed the liquidation cascade, noting open interest dropped to $19.5 billion, which is less than half its January peak, leading to skyrocketing negative sentiment, and the Bitcoin market entering “FUD mode.”
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