Bitcoin dips toward $76,000 as retail sentiment turns bearish

Bitcoin dipped toward $76,000 on May 18, trading near $77,000 around 5:36 p.m. after a brief slide. The price remained below a May 14 peak near $82,000.

Market intelligence firm Santiment reported that negative social-media commentary about bitcoin outnumbered positive commentary for the first time since April 21. The platform’s positive-to-negative sentiment indicator fell below 1.0, showing roughly 0.94 bullish comments for every bearish one. Santiment labeled that range a “FUD Zone.”

Santiment collects comment volumes from social platforms and overlays that data with price movements. Its charts showed bullish sentiment weakening as bitcoin moved lower over several days and retail commentary shifting toward greater pessimism by May 18.

The firm noted sentiment had largely remained outside bearish levels during the prior four weeks before the recent downturn. The May 18 reading was the weakest in about four weeks, according to Santiment.

Santiment wrote: “Since crypto historically moves opposite to the crowd’s expectations, this level of bearishness from retail is a great sign.” The firm added: “As small traders sell off their coins as a reaction to this mild downswing, probabilities of a rebound are heightened while most people expect a further drop.”

In context, Santiment’s May 13 analysis showed bitcoin had gained about 20% over the previous three months. Over the same period the S&P 500 rose about 8% while gold fell about 6%, the firm reported. Santiment cited bitcoin’s prior rebound during heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty around the Clarity Act as part of recent price developments.

Santiment’s posts compared BTC price action with volumes of positive and negative commentary collected across social platforms, and the firm described the lower ratio as an “ideal temporary dip buy time” within its sentiment cycle. The platform’s public data displayed a shift from predominantly bullish commentary in mid-May to increased retail pessimism by May 18.