Bitcoin FOMO Surges as BTC Eyes $80K Breakout Again

Santiment warns of rising FOMO as Bitcoin nears $80K again. Analysts track key liquidation zones and crowd sentiment shifts.

Bitcoin is flirting with the $80,000 mark again. Crowd sentiment has shifted sharply this week. 

Santiment flagged a dramatic swing from extreme fear on Monday to strong FOMO by Thursday. According to CoinGecko data, BTC is trading at $77,708.18. Its 24-hour volume stands at over $35.7 billion.

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BTC Rally Eyes $81K CME Gap Before May Turns Into a Trap

Bitcoin Crowd Sentiment Flips Fast Near $80K Resistance

Santiment noted the crowd moved from deep pessimism to high FOMO in just days. 

The analytics firm described Monday’s fear as a classic buy signal. Prices then rallied past $78,700 quickly. Now, with $80,000 in sight again, Santiment flagged the FOMO spike as a caution signal instead.

The firm pointed out that markets tend to move opposite to crowd expectations. 

A confirmed break above $80,000, Santiment suggested, could pull in both new and returning traders. However, the firm added that a slight cooling in optimism would make that breakout more sustainable.

Analysts Track a Repeating BTC Price Sequence

Trader Seth highlighted what he described as a recurring pattern playing out since Bitcoin’s $65,000 bottom. Each rally has been followed by a flush, pulling out late buyers. 

The first leg ran from $65,000 to $74,000, then pulled back to $70,000. The next pushed from $70,000 to $78,000, then retraced to $74,000.

Seth noted the latest leg was shallower. Bitcoin moved from $74,000 to $79,500, then dipped to around $77,000. He suggested that buyer momentum may be thinning. 

Incredible

The same playbook has been running since Bitcoin bottomed at 65K when I issued my long signals.

Price keeps doing the same sequence. Bitcoin pumps, then reverses and flushes out the late longs.

First move: 65K to 74K, then back to 70K.
Next move: 70K to 78K, then… pic.twitter.com/Pupohdfold

— Seth (@seth_fin) April 24, 2026

Still, Seth pointed out that the pullback might stretch longer than usual. The reason is that many traders are already anticipating it. 

Funding rates have gone negative, and options markets now show more puts than calls.

Seth emphasized that short-term moves are driven by trader positioning and liquidations. Longer-term market drivers, he argued, remain far stronger than trader activity alone.

$80K Liquidation Zone Draws Attention From Market Watchers

Analyst Ardi brought attention to a dense cluster of short positions sitting just above $79,500. 

He identified approximately several hundred million dollars in short exposure stacked around the $79,900 level. 

Ardi called this the maximum pain zone for bears. He described it as months of positioning compressed into a tight liquidation band.

Ardi argued that market makers have strong incentive to sweep through that zone. 

$BTC

We have several hundred million in short exposure stacked just above the 79.5K local high, around 79.9K.

That’s the max pain zone for bears. Months of positioning compressed into one dense liquidation band.

If this green support zone holds as the retest, market makers… pic.twitter.com/pHjtY8T8z1

— Ardi (@ArdiNSC) April 24, 2026

If the green support level holds during a retest, forced short covering could compound any upward move. That buying pressure, he noted, would likely push Bitcoin through $80,000. 

Ardi concluded by pointing out that a liquidity pool sitting just 2% from price rarely goes untouched for long.