Bearish views on social media around the bitcoin market have surged for the first time in five weeks, and an analysis says such pessimism could lead to a short-term rebound.

Cointelegraph reported on Saturday that on-chain analytics firm Santiment said “bearish comments” on bitcoin rose to the highest level since late February.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Santiment said an FUD atmosphere — fear, uncertainty and doubt — is spreading again in the community and sentiment is freezing. It added that such pessimism does not necessarily act only as a negative factor. It said this kind of mood is often a common ingredient in price rebounds.

The indicator tracks the ratio of bullish and bearish mentions of bitcoin using samples of crypto-related accounts across multiple social media platforms, including X and Reddit. Santiment said the bullish-to-bearish ratio stood at 0.81 as of Saturday, the lowest level since late February.

Investors generally use market sentiment as a reference indicator for trading decisions. When sentiment worsens, a pattern emerges of expecting further declines, while rising optimism leads to expectations of further gains. Santiment said actual price moves often diverge from such expectations. “Markets usually move in the opposite direction of the crowd’s expectations,” it said. “This level of FUD is a good signal that the situation could turn positive faster than people think.”

Santiment cited the U.S. CLARITY Act as a factor weighing on bitcoin prices. It said the bill, which the industry is watching, has acted as a “hypothetical variable” and increased uncertainty. Paul Grewal (폴 그리월), Coinbase’s chief legal officer, said the bill is moving to a markup hearing at the Senate Banking Committee. He said differences over stablecoin yields could be resolved and, once a markup schedule is set, it could proceed to a floor vote.

Other sentiment indicators also show a cautious mood in the market. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which reflects overall investor sentiment, remained in the “fear” range on the day and recorded 31. Bitcoin is also continuing to trade sideways around $67,000, without finding a clear direction.

️ According to social data across X, Reddit, Telegram, and other platforms, Bitcoin is seeing the highest ratio of bearish discussions (fear) since February 28th. With crypto's #1 market cap sitting at $66.8K, FUD has crept back in with the community showing a key lack of… pic.twitter.com/Ym7SbUC22I