Crypto Bear Market Tightens as 75 of Top 100 Coins Fall Below Key Moving Averages

The cryptocurrency market is showing deepening bearish signals as the year draws to a close.

Data from TradingView indicates that 75 of the top 100 coins by market capitalization are trading below both their 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs), signaling broad weakness across the sector. This follows bitcoin’s slide from a record high of over $126,000 in early October to around $87,000 at the time of writing, suggesting continued capital outflows from digital assets.

The 50- and 200-day SMAs are widely used by traders and investors to filter out short-term volatility and identify longer-term momentum shifts. Crossing below both averages typically indicates underperformance relative to short- and long-term trends, often triggering increased selling pressure and accelerated declines.

By comparison, only 29 Nasdaq 100 stocks are trading below their key moving averages, highlighting the relative resilience of technology equities. Bitcoin’s historical correlation with the Nasdaq can amplify losses during bearish phases.

Bear Grip Tightens on Major Cryptos

Among the 75 coins trading below these key levels are market leaders such as bitcoin, ether (ETH$2,972.48), solana (SOL$127.94), BNB (BNB$847.03), and XRP (XRP$1.9279). Together, these assets account for roughly 78% of the $3 trillion crypto market, underscoring how weakness in top tokens is dragging the broader market down.

These coins are also the most liquid and institutionally traded, forming the backbone of products like CME futures and spot ETFs. Bearish signals from these assets typically weigh on investor sentiment, reducing appetite for smaller, less liquid alternative coins. Historically, such broad-based weakness has preceded further declines.

Only a Handful Oversold

Despite the SMA-based downtrend, only eight of the top 100 coins qualify as oversold on the relative strength index (RSI). These include PI, APT, ALGO, FLARE, VET, JUP, IP, and KAIA.

Layering the SMA breach with RSI oversold readings highlights that while downtrends are widespread, most coins have not yet reached extreme selling conditions. This suggests additional downside may still lie ahead before a meaningful recovery occurs.

The 14-day RSI measures recent price momentum on a 0-100 scale. Readings below 30 indicate oversold conditions, potentially signaling consolidation or a short-term bounce, while readings above 80 suggest overbought conditions.