Crypto Analysis: Selling Pressure Continues to Dominate

As one of the final months of the year continues to unfold, the most notable feature within the cryptocurrency market remains a relatively consistent pattern of weakness. Although major cryptocurrencies attempted to recover ground at the beginning of the week, bullish momentum failed to hold and, by the end of the week, the market once again returned to a landscape dominated by losses.

This situation is becoming increasingly relevant because the absence of consistent demand is allowing selling pressure to regain control across the major cryptocurrencies. As long as this dynamic remains in place, the weakness observed over recent sessions could continue to be an important feature of the market in the weeks ahead.

Performance of Major Cryptocurrencies

Source: Data - StoneX, Tradingview

• The week has not been particularly favorable for the cryptocurrency market. Overall, weakness continues to dominate price action, with even Bitcoin, the market's benchmark asset, struggling to maintain consistent stability in the short term. In this environment, Ripple stands out after posting several weeks of relatively stable performance, now down approximately 5.3% on the week and ranking among the weakest performers. Meanwhile, Ether has been one of the few cryptocurrencies capable of partially resisting selling pressure, posting a decline of around 0.63%. Even so, demand continues to slow. This situation highlights that confidence across the sector remains limited.
   

• Looking at the last 10 weeks, the broader picture continues to show deterioration. Most digital assets remain below the levels seen several weeks ago, reflecting a gradual loss of medium-term strength. In this environment, Dogecoin and Ripple stand out, both posting declines close to 14.0% during the period. Meanwhile, Litecoin remains the only cryptocurrency maintaining positive performance relative to levels seen ten weeks ago, with a gain of approximately 6.78%, making it one of the most resilient assets from a medium-term perspective. This highlights that the slowdown in demand is no longer limited to the short term, as most of the market continues to struggle to maintain stability.
   

• The yearly performance remains one of the sector's main challenges. Major cryptocurrencies continue to trade below the levels observed at the beginning of 2026, reflecting how weakness from the first part of the year continues to shape the longer-term outlook. Furthermore, the recovery observed in recent weeks has not been strong enough to restore a more consistent sense of confidence. Cardano remains one of the worst-performing assets, posting a decline of roughly 43.84%, while Bitcoin is down close to 14.0%. This shows that even the market's largest cryptocurrency has been unable to return to positive territory for the year and highlights a relatively widespread lack of confidence heading into year-end.
   

• Bitcoin, as the market's primary benchmark cryptocurrency, managed to regain momentum at one point during the week and briefly moved back above the $80,000 area. However, that recovery quickly lost strength and the overall balance of the week turned negative. BTC is currently down roughly $1,400 per coin and has returned to trading near the $75,000 area, where a prolonged phase of neutrality and weakness continues to dominate price action.
   

• Overall, the cryptocurrency market continues to develop under a broadly weak environment. The buying momentum seen several weeks ago has faded, and for now not even Bitcoin has managed to transmit enough confidence to the rest of the sector. As long as selling pressure remains dominant around important technical levels, the bearish bias could continue gaining relevance in the weeks ahead.

Colors range from red to green. Red indicates negative correlations and green indicates positive correlations.

Source: Data - StoneX, Tradingview

From a correlation perspective, the growing alignment between major cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin continues to stand out. Correlation coefficients have increased compared with previous weeks and several assets are now trading with readings above 0.9, reflecting that a significant portion of the market continues to closely follow BTC's behavior. It is important to remember that correlation coefficients can change over time.

This remains particularly relevant because Bitcoin itself continues to struggle to sustain a meaningful recovery. As the market becomes increasingly aligned with the benchmark cryptocurrency, the lack of momentum in BTC begins to spill over into the rest of the sector. This suggests that the current weakness is no longer an isolated phenomenon, but rather an increasingly widespread characteristic across the crypto market, where only a handful of cryptocurrencies have managed to maintain convincing stability in recent sessions. Unless Bitcoin generates price action capable of improving broader market confidence, this phase of weakness may continue to remain relevant during the coming trading sessions.

 

Bitcoin Begins to Put Its Previous Bullish Trend at Risk

Source: StoneX, Tradingview

As the market's leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has failed to maintain the buying momentum observed at the beginning of the week. Although the market attempted to revive the long-term bullish trendline that had dominated price action in recent months, the renewed selling pressure seen toward the end of the week has increased the risk surrounding that technical structure.

Under this scenario, if price continues moving closer to key support levels, the validity of the prevailing bullish trend could come under greater pressure and potentially open the door to a more structured bearish phase in the weeks ahead.

Indicators:

• Both the MACD and the RSI continue to develop below their respective neutrality levels, reflecting that recent momentum and short-term moving averages maintain a relatively consistent bearish bias. As long as this dynamic remains in place, downside pressure could continue to be an important feature of Bitcoin's price action. However, it is also worth noting that the RSI has begun moving closer to the 30 oversold threshold, a development that could eventually signal an excessive amount of selling pressure and create room for short-term corrective rebounds.

Key Levels:

• $82,000 – Key Resistance: A recent highs area that coincides with the 50-period simple moving average and represents the most important upside barrier on the chart. Price action returning toward this level could restore bullish momentum and strengthen the broader uptrend observed in previous months.
   
• $78,600 – Near-Term Barrier: An important retracement area observed over recent weeks that could become the main reference level to monitor in the event of short-term bullish corrections.
   
• $73,400 – Key Support: A level that coincides with the 200-period simple moving average and currently represents the most important downside barrier on the chart. Price action consolidating below this level would not only place the dominant bullish trend at risk but could also open the door to the formation of a new short-term bearish trend in the weeks ahead.

 

Ripple Begins to Consolidate a Bearish Trend

Source: StoneX, Tradingview

Ripple has emerged as one of the weakest cryptocurrencies of the week. Selling pressure has been strong enough to break the range-bound structure that dominated price action throughout recent months and has also pushed price below important technical references such as the 200-period simple moving average.

This development highlights a meaningful change in market structure and is gradually giving shape to a new bearish trendline that could become the dominant technical reference during the coming sessions.

Indicators:

• Both the RSI and the MACD histogram continue to develop below their respective neutrality zones, reflecting a consistent selling environment. This suggests that both short-term moving averages and recent price momentum continue to favor a relatively stable bearish bias. As long as this behavior remains in place, selling pressure could continue to play an important role in Ripple's price action.

Key Levels:

• 139.76 – Key Resistance: An area that coincides with the 50-period simple moving average and represents the most important upside barrier on the chart. Price action returning toward this level could begin highlighting a renewed lack of direction and restore relevance to the range-bound structure observed in previous weeks.
   
• 129.24 – Near-Term Barrier: A level that previously acted as an important technical reference and now coincides with the 200-period simple moving average. It could become the main area to monitor in the event of short-term bullish corrections.
   
• 114.51 – Key Support: A recent lows area that remains an especially important downside barrier and corresponds to price levels not seen in several months. Price action consolidating below this reference could reinforce seller dominance and support a more consistent extension of the bearish trend during the weeks ahead.

 

Written by Julian Pineda, CFA, CMT – Market Analyst

Follow him on: @julianpineda25