Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe’s latest comment on Bitcoin landed at a moment when the market is already struggling to find direction. In his post, he said the trend remains unchanged, described the session as one of the “most boring” of the week, and argued that if Bitcoin cannot push back above $70,000, the market may end up testing the lows again. That view lines up with the live market data right now, where Bitcoin is trading around $66,798, after an intraday high of $67,196 and a low of $66,285.
The reason $70,000 matters so much is not only psychological. It has become a visible line in the sand for traders after Bitcoin repeatedly lost momentum beneath it in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Bitcoin tumbled through the key $70,000 level amid a broad slide in risk assets, while the token had been hit by a wave of liquidations as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East added fresh pressure to markets. About $243 million in long positions were wiped out when Bitcoin slipped to around $68,000, a sign that leveraged traders are still getting forced out whenever volatility picks up.
That backdrop helps explain why Van de Poppe’s warning sounds less dramatic than it did a few months ago. Bitcoin has not just been drifting sideways. It has been fighting a market that still looks cautious, with traders reluctant to commit fresh capital until they see a cleaner claim of resistance.
Experts also pointed to spot Bitcoin ETF outflows as part of the pressure, with Reuters saying that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw billions leave the market in late 2025 and early 2026, while Citigroup recently cut its 12-month Bitcoin target to $112,000 from $143,000 as progress on U.S. crypto legislation stalled in the Senate. That does not change the long-term adoption story, but it does show how much the near-term price action is being shaped by flows, policy uncertainty, and risk appetite rather than pure optimism.
Broader Outlook
The market is also dealing with a technical overhang that keeps traders on edge. A separate market note reported that Bitcoin was hovering near $66,000 ahead of a large options expiry, with roughly $14 billion in contracts set to roll off. That kind of event can magnify intraday swings and create temporary price magnets around heavily watched levels.
In other words, even if Bitcoin does not collapse from here, it may still stay trapped in a narrow and frustrating band until fresh demand returns. That is exactly the kind of environment Van de Poppe was describing when he said the trend has not changed and the market is still flatlining.
For now, the key question is simple. Can Bitcoin recover $70,000 and turn it back into support, or will the market continue to drift lower and probe the next support zone? At the current price, the burden of proof is still on the bulls. If buyers cannot show up soon, Van de Poppe’s caution may prove to be the more useful read on the market. If they do, though, this may end up looking less like a breakdown and more like another painful consolidation phase before the next move higher.
