Bitcoin’s market capitalization has fallen to around $1.46 trillion, pushing it below several major technology and commodity companies in global asset rankings.
Gold holds the top spot during BTC declines
Gold remains the world’s most valuable asset at almost $31 trillion, with Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, TSMC, Broadcom, Saudi Aramco, Tesla and Meta Platforms ranking above Bitcoin.
The decline reflects increasing pressure on the cryptocurrency from multiple fronts – including rising inflation, geopolitical conflict and weakening investor sentiment.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of analytics firm CryptoQuant, now says a bear market is possible extend to early 2027. Its rating is based on an on-chain yield model that tracks how long investors’ losses typically last when profit-taking begins to taper off.
After profit-taking cascades, investors’ PnL typically declines for about 18 months.
Since the trend reversed in October 2025, the bear market may continue until early 2027.
The trend only changes when unrealized profits escalate and realized profits decrease. We’re not there yet. pic.twitter.com/fQyIRLu8vv
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) May 29, 2026
According to Ju, the decline in investor returns began in October 2025. He said the trend continued in the roughly 18-month pattern seen during previous downturns, pointing to similar cycles in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
The bear market clock started in October 2025
The CryptoQuant PnL Index Signal – a chart that measures investor profitability using 365-day moving averages – shows the index slowing down after peaking last year.
Ju posted a chart on the X, noting that a recovery will only be confirmed when unrealized gains rise and realized gains fall. This change has not happened yet, he added.
At the time of the report, the price of Bitcoin was close to $73,289, marking a slight decline in 24 hours. Data from CoinGlass shows that total open interest in the derivatives market has fallen to around $55 billion, while liquidations over the same period have reached close to $224 million.
Long players bear the bulk of the damage
Most of these losses were incurred by the long position. More than $30 million in bullish bets were lost within 24 hours, compared to about $17 million in miniature liquidations. Despite these numbers, the ratio of long and miniature positions on major exchanges, including Binance and OKX, continues to trend upward.
Broader macroeconomic conditions are increasing pressure. US PCE inflation rose to 3.8% year-over-year in April, and in response, the likelihood of the Fed raising interest rates has increased sharply.
Reports indicate that tensions between the United States and Iran have also shaken global markets, with risk sentiment in cryptocurrencies continuing to weaken.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
