The performance of Bitcoin’s price has been lackluster for the majority of 2025, not taking advantage of the intense momentum seen during the final 30 days of 2024. Despite the market leader’s clear difficulties, investors have not yet given up on the hope of BTC achieving one last surge to a new historical peak.
Nonetheless, the recent on-chain data suggests that this may be merely a fantasy, with the Bitcoin bear market appearing to have arrived. The pivotal question now is — is it time to shift focus or is there still one last upward movement in this cycle?
Is It Time To Shift Focus In This Cycle?
In a Quicktake article on the CryptoQuant platform, a cryptocurrency analyst using the alias Maartunn presented an intriguing forecast regarding the current on-chain dynamics of Bitcoin’s price and cycle. This insight highlights the fluctuations in the Inter-Exchange Flow Pulse (IFP) metric.
The Inter-Exchange Flow Pulse (IFP) is an on-chain indicator that monitors BTC movements between spot and derivative exchanges by utilizing CryptoQuant’s Bitcoin exchange flow data. Variations in this measure can help discern whether investor sentiment in the largest cryptocurrency market is optimistic or pessimistic.
Generally, when substantial amounts of BTC are being sent to derivative exchanges, the indicator points to a bullish phase. “This indicates that traders are transferring coins to initiate long positions in the derivatives market,” Maartunn further elaborated.
Conversely, the increasing movement of Bitcoin out of derivative exchanges and towards spot exchanges signals the onset of a bearish period. The Quicktake analyst remarked that this typically happens when long positions are liquidated and significant investors (whales) aim to lessen their risk exposure.
Source: CryptoQuant
However, this pattern must not persist if the BTC price is to make one final ascent this cycle. The last extended IFP bearish phase coincided with the drop of Bitcoin’s price from over $60,000 to below $20,000 in 2022.
Overview of Bitcoin Price
As of this moment, BTC is priced at approximately $97,500, showing no significant price fluctuation in the past 24 hours. Likewise, the leading cryptocurrency barely shifted in the last week, registering a modest 1.2% increase over the past seven-day period.
The BTC daily price data | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView