[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] Bitcoin (BTC) moved with little volatility around $67,100 throughout the weekend, but market mood cooled to its coldest since the Iran conflict began.

CoinDesk reported on April 5 that bitcoin’s price is holding within about a 5 percent range compared with the outbreak date of Feb. 28, while sentiment indicators are deteriorating quickly.

Data recently released by onchain and social analytics firm Santiment showed social media reactions related to bitcoin were counted as 5 bearish to 4 bullish. It was the most negative tilt in the past 5 weeks. The last time sentiment leaned this heavily to one side was on the day “Operation Epic Fury” began, when bitcoin fell below $65,000 for the first time in the conflict period.

The Fear and Greed Index also stayed at 9, in the “extreme fear” zone. The index has moved between 8 and 14 for more than a month and is stuck in single digits. CoinDesk reported similar readings appeared during capitulation phases accompanied by one-day drops of 20 to 30 percent, such as the 2022 Luna collapse or the FTX bankruptcy, but said it was unusual this time for sentiment alone to sink without a price breakdown. The price has in fact been moving sideways in a $65,000 to $73,000 range.

The outlet described the market as showing that “what matters is that sentiment and price are sending completely different signals.” It said war-related headlines, remarks by Trump, a $403 million liquidation event and onchain demand indicators rated as the most bearish in years poured in, but the price failed to establish a clear direction.

As a reason the price has not broken down sharply, it pointed to institutional inflows. ETFs absorbed about 50,000 BTC in March, the fastest monthly pace since October 2025. Strategy bought an additional 44,000 BTC, and Morgan Stanley received approval for a bitcoin ETF with a 14 bp, or 0.14 percent, fee, opening a channel covering 16,000 advisers and $6.2 trillion in assets under management. CoinDesk said, “Institutional buying is real and is supporting the bottom.”

The report also presented signals that moving beyond the bottom may not be easy. According to its analysis, apparent demand over 30 days was minus 63,000 BTC, meaning overall market selling is faster than the pace of institutional buying. Whale addresses holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC also shifted from net buying of 200,000 BTC a year ago to recent net selling of 188,000 BTC, and were assessed as “one of the most aggressive distribution cycles on record.”

Seasonality that has historically been bullish in April is also failing this time to overwhelm the variables. CoinDesk added that the overlap of the war situation, a negative Coinbase premium, whale distribution and a fear gauge stuck in single digits makes it difficult to judge the trend on seasonality alone.