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Down 25% from a record high reached in October, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC ) is officially in a beer market. The largest cryptocurrency is also close to forming a new "death cross" technical pattern.

A bear market is defined as a decline of 20% or more from recent highs. BTC is now trading at $93,500 U.S., down 25% from an all-time high of $126,000 U.S. achieved in early October.

However, Bitcoin is also close to forming a death cross, which occurs when an asset's 50-day moving average crosses below its 200-day moving average.

Technical analysts and chart experts view this pattern as extremely bearish, saying it signals continued weakness ahead.

Analysts say the death cross signals weakening short-term momentum relative to the longer-term trend for Bitcoin.

BTC has technically been in a drawdown for 41 days now and unable to reverse higher. The new death cross makes the short-term prospects for Bitcoin even worse, say analysts.

This would be the fourth death cross for Bitcoin since 2023 and each previous instance led to a major price decline.

In September 2023, BTC bottomed near $25,000 U.S., in August 2024 it found support around $49,000 U.S., and in April of this year it bottomed just under $75,000 U.S.

Many analysts are now eyeing a bottom for BTC around $85,000 U.S., though some caution that the price could fall even further if markets remain volatile for the remainder of this year.