The Sentiment of Cryptocurrency Traders is Divided. What Does It Mean for the Market?

Santiment analysts assess investor interest in major cryptocurrencies.

Santiment assessed current investor sentiment in major cryptocurrencies. The experts analysed the six largest coins by capitalisation (excluding stablecoins) in terms of demand levels.

Santiment's analytical resources are able to monitor market sentiment by analysing keyword mentions in thematic posts and comments on English-language social networks such as X (formerly Twitter), Telegram and Reddit. Analysts compare the ratio of positive to negative comments and trading volumes to determine how people generally perceive a cryptocurrency when its price changes.

In the introduction to the report, Santiment reminded that markets historically move in the opposite direction of mass expectations:

"Sometimes we observe that traders are very optimistic about Bitcoin, but sceptical about altcoins. This is a signal that it is time to invest in speculative assets while the community 'plays it safe'. In other cases, we can see euphoria on social media about memecoins during a big hype. This is a sign that altcoins will face some pain to cool the hype," the analysts wrote.

Bitcoin (BTC)

The ratio of positive to negative comments on social media about Bitcoin is currently rather neutral. Sentiment turned "quite bearish" at the end of December, after Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, announced a revision of his rate-cutting policy.

BTC bounced up to $102K in early January, only to bounce back, and it seems that traders are still waiting for a stronger move before forming extreme opinions.

Sentiment: 3 out of 5 (Neutral).

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum was gaining momentum three weeks ago, briefly recovering the psychological "support level" of $4K. However, as altcoins fell in price following BTC, ETH is now simply trying to hold above $3K. Should this level be broken to the downside, panic could indeed ensue, creating buying opportunities.

Sentiment: 2 out of 5 (Slightly Bearish).

XRP (XRP) Ripple

XRP has seen a good increase in market capitalisation, up 18% in early 2025, and is holding up well against other altcoins. After the huge price rise, which saw XRP rise 455% between 1 November and 2 December, investor optimism has increased.

Sentiment: 4 out of 5 (Slightly Bullish).

BNB (BNB) Binance

The cryptocurrency exchange's native token Binance has seen a sharp rise in price since the beginning of November. However, BNB users have become a little more uncertain about what will happen next, as the price fell back below the $700 support level on Tuesday. "Social media will remain quiet on this project" unless there is a decisive move that brings this usually quiet top asset back into the traders' spotlight.

Sentiment: 3 out of 5 (Neutral).

Solana (SOL)

The Solana community has shown how loyal it can be to the currency, despite yields dropping significantly compared to other altcoins (-25% in the past 6 weeks). Retail traders successfully bought the asset the day after Christmas, and their optimism is still visibly high from December. It may be best to wait until the stubborn enthusiasm around SOL fades a bit before the time comes to buy against the tide.

Sentiment: 4 out of 5 (Slightly Bullish).

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Investor sentiment towards the main memecoin has been extremely quiet, with the exception of a temporary spike at the beginning of the year (which coincided with Elon Musk's brief change of nickname on X to "Kekius Maximus"). Since its high exactly one month ago, Dogecoin has lost 28%. Community sentiment is near its lowest point in the past year, meaning that there is indeed potential for a rally in DOGE if the crypto markets as a whole were to rebound.