Bitcoin has yet to form clear technical signals strong enough to indicate it has entered a new bull market, an assessment showed.

On Aug. 3, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that veteran trader Peter Brandt said current charts make it hard to say a turn to a bull market is imminent.

Brandt shared a weekly bitcoin analysis chart on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote: "As a classical chartist I see nothing right now to suggest a bull market is urgent." He sided with Northstar Charts' bearish view.

The chart said bitcoin remains below key resistance after breaking down earlier this year below the 50-week moving average and the Ichimoku cloud. It judged the weekly trend as still bearish. It also flagged a rising wedge breakdown near the cycle high and pointed to repeated failures since then to reclaim the 50-week moving average as a burden.

Northstar Charts said bitcoin has recovered both the 50-week moving average and the Ichimoku indicator each time it has resumed past bull markets. It said bitcoin would first need to break above the cloud for a sustainable rebound, and that until then the risk of further declines remains.

Brandt did not assert further declines, but he drew a line by saying the current price action alone offers insufficient grounds to expect an immediate bullish reversal. He warned that the market "has not yet confirmed a bottom" and that a "sustainable low is unlikely to emerge before October 2026."

Moves in long-dormant holdings were also cited as a factor increasing market uncertainty. CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn said 500 BTC that had not moved for more than 10 years, and 746 BTC that had been dormant for 3 to 5 years, moved in recent blocks. When long-sleeping bitcoin moves, it can heighten caution about potential selling. Such moves, however, do not immediately mean inflows to exchanges or actual sales.

Some in the market, however, continued to voice optimism. Cryptocurrency analyst Luke Martin quoted a Kalshi post that shared remarks by Jim Cramer saying he would sell all of his bitcoin, and wrote that "the stars are aligning for bitcoin." Cramer's market calls have often been treated as contrarian signals among cryptocurrency traders, and some participants interpreted the latest remarks as a bullish signal instead.

As a result, the bitcoin market is developing into a standoff between technical bearish signals and psychological optimism. For now, key points to watch are whether bitcoin can regain the 50-week moving average and the Ichimoku cloud, and whether movements of long-held supply lead to actual selling pressure.

As a classical chartist I see nothing right now to suggest a bull market is urgent https://t.co/ICgz4Uk9ZH