FUD Takes Crypto Social Media to Retail Selloff: Santiment

Fear, uncertainty, and skepticism have once again taken over crypto social media following a sell-off of panic from bare-knuckle traders.

“FUD has taken over social media,” following Bitcoin’s 16% fall last week, blockchain analytics firm Santiment said Monday.

The crash “was the result of selling their portfolios,” he said before adding that “this is more evidence that the markets are going in the opposite direction of the crowd’s narrative.”

“Negative posts about crypto continue to flood in, with social data showing this is the most bearish since the November 21 crash.”

Crypto markets made 19% in November, with $680 billion coming out of the space. In comparison, the recent crash was much shallower, with a 14% slide and outflows of $440 billion, but it sent markets back to April 2025 lows.

Is There a Help Desk?

“In many cases, there is a charity meeting that follows bad times like these,” said Santiment. “So far, this jump looks as encouraging as the previous two events following FUD.”

However, there have been few signs of recovery yet, with Bitcoin still trading at a nine-month low of around $78,000 and Ether spent in bear markets falling to around $2,300.

😠 FUD has taken over social media following Bitcoin -16% since January 28. After dropping $74.6K, $BTC it rebounded to $78.3K due to selling their bags. This is more evidence that the markets are moving in the opposite direction of the crowd news.… pic.twitter.com/NDffU98ZWM

– Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 2, 2026

CryptoQuant analyst ‘Darkfost’ blamed October’s record leverage flush, saying the event “really pushed BTC into a bear market.”

“Liquidity destruction in an already uncertain crypto market environment does not help the return of speculation, which is an important part of the crypto market.”

Analyst ‘Sykodelic’ was bullish, noting that this week’s increase in manufacturing PMI data is a positive sign for the economy.

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“We’re not in a bear market and we’re not going to look down for 10 months and get 75%. The cycle is getting ready to expand, not at its end.”

Bitcoin at Big Support Level

“The main support level is at $74K, which will be the main thing to watch in the coming week(s),” said analyst ‘Daan Crypto Trades.’ Sweeping will be fine, but closing below that point will “spell another problem,” he added.

“Overall, it’s easy to see how the market structure has changed bearish at the top, with bearish rejection at $98K and this latest leg down.”

BTC was trading at $78,500 at the time of writing, down 11% for the week and 10% since the beginning of the year.