Bitcoin sentiment turns negative for first time since halving

The ratio of positive/negative comments about Bitcoin on Twitter has gone negative for the first time since April 13. As of May 27, crowd sentiment was as low as -0.328. That ends a 44 day streak for Bitcoin in which the majority of its Twitter mentions were largely positive.

That’s according to data from Santiment, which measures Bitcoin mentions on Twitter, excluding spam comments and duplicated posts. This metric, according to the data analysts, acts as an informative indicator of Bitcoin sentiment—as well as future price action.

Bitcoin sentiment over time

Bitcoin’s sentiment went positive on April 13. Over the next month, Bitcoin’s price climbed 47%—from $6,700 to $9,900—with the block reward halving just around the corner. Unsurprisingly, sentiment rose during this time.

When Bitcoin peaked at $9,900 on May 8, crowd sentiment climbed to a one year high of 2.5 before dropping off entirely. This means more than twice as many tweets were for Bitcoin than were against it.

But the Bitcoin halving was a bit of a damp squib. Prices fell and there was a lack of excitement on the day. At the time, sentiment fell to 2.3. Cut to today and it’s now in the negative.

And yet, traders might see this as a good thing. The strongest buy signals occur when the sentiment of the crowd is negative, according to Santiment.

“Generally, the most prominent buy opportunities occur when crowd sentiment is in the negative, so plan accordingly, particularly if it reaches a level around -0.5,” the data analyst company tweeted.

But not only have tweets turned negative, but people are making fewer tweets about Bitcoin. According to Santiment, the total volume of unique Twitter posts which mentioned Bitcoin fell by 56% since the halving. Where have the bulls gone?