Can Bitcoin Maintain Its $87K Surge? CryptoQuant Identifies Possible Warning Signs

As Bitcoin reaches a new peak of $87,000, market analysts are scrutinizing whether this upward trend can hold. CryptoQuant, a leading on-chain analytics platform, has highlighted several concerning indicators that could signal potential volatility ahead. Key metrics such as exchange inflows, miner activity, and whale movements suggest underlying market pressures. While the breakout reflects strong bullish sentiment, traders should remain cautious of overextension. The sustainability of this rally hinges on macroeconomic factors, institutional demand, and regulatory developments. This analysis provides a data-driven perspective on Bitcoin’s current trajectory and the risks that may lie ahead.

Miners Are Selling Their BTC

Since late February, whales have been realizing losses due to the drop in bitcoin’s price. This came after they took profits in January amid bitcoin’s ascent above the $100,000 range. While this cohort of investors is still realizing losses, their daily BTC sales have fallen from 800,000 in late February to about 300,000.

Since early April, whales’ total BTC balance has plummeted from 3.537 million to 3.500 million, and their monthly accumulation percentage growth has dropped to zero. Whales have been accumulating BTC at the slowest monthly pace since February—their monthly accumulation rate has fallen from 2.7% at the end of March to 0.5% presently.

While bitcoin’s price continues to stall, miners have increased their selling pressure to stay afloat. Their outflows surged to 15,000 BTC on April 7, when BTC fell below $74,000. Analysts say this was the third-largest daily outflow so far in 2025. Adding to miners’ woes is the rising Bitcoin network hashrate, which indicates that it is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to mine BTC.

Coupled with low transaction fees, the average operating margin for miners has plunged from 53% in late January to 33% today.

BTC Still in Bearish Territory

As miners and whales struggle to adjust to the ongoing market trend, BTC remains in one of its least bullish phases since November 2022. As revealed in previous reports, the Bull Score Model, which measures the bullish percentage of on-chain and market metrics from 0 to 100, is still in bearish territory.

The index is still hovering at 20, revealing that investor sentiment is still weak and that there is a low probability of a sustained rally in the NEAR term. The Bull Score Index is experiencing its longest streak of days in bearish territory since September 2022, when BTC was in a bear market. This model has remained below 50 for 58 of the past 60 days, a pattern seen in July 2021, January 2022, and June 2022 during major market corrections.

Nevertheless, BTC managed to break out of its recent consolidation phase on Monday morning and chart a multi-week peak of over $87,500.