Bitcoin falls to $83,300 as bull score hits 90 despite weakening spot demand

Bitcoin’s rally is losing momentum even as an onchain gauge built to flag bull markets edges toward a near-perfect reading, a split that shows how thin the buying behind recent gains has become. For traders positioning around bitcoin’s push toward six-figure territory, the gap between a 90-out-of-100 score and shrinking spot demand is the clearest sign yet that fresh money, not sentiment, will decide the next move.

• CryptoQuant’s Bull Score climbed to 90 out of 100 after bitcoin broke above its 365-day moving average.
• Bitcoin slipped from an eight-month high near $87,400 to about $83,300, rising 0.4% Wednesday (September 30).
• Buyers locked in gains on 25,700 BTC on Sept. 22, the largest single day of profit-taking this year.

• 90/100 CryptoQuant’s Bull Score, ten points from a perfect reading
• 170,000 BTC spot demand contraction over the past 30 days
• 90% drop in futures demand growth in just 15 days
• 33% average unrealized profit for recent buyers, widest since Dec. 2024

Bitcoin fell from an eight-month high near $87,400 to about $83,300 even as CryptoQuant’s Bull Score, a composite of onchain and market indicators, climbed to 90 out of 100, according to reporting by CoinDesk. The token rose 0.4% to just above $83,300 as of Wednesday (September 30) Asian morning hours, still well below the peak it hit earlier this month. CryptoQuant’s score jumped after bitcoin broke above its 365-day moving average, a technical move the firm treats as confirmation of a bull market.

Spot demand contracts by 170,000 BTC in 30 days

CryptoQuant tracks what it calls apparent demand by comparing newly mined bitcoin against changes in the pool of coins that have not moved in a year or longer. That measure has been shrinking all month, meaning the market is absorbing fewer coins than are entering circulation.

Over the past 30 days, apparent demand has contracted by roughly 170,000 BTC, a decline that began before bitcoin’s slide from $87,400 to about $83,300.

Without fresh demand, rallies struggle to extend. With spot demand still in contraction and futures growth stalling, near-term upside becomes harder to sustain.

Julio Moreno, head of research, CryptoQuant

Futures demand growth falls 90% in 15 days

Speculative futures positioning is cooling even faster than spot demand. Growth in futures demand dropped from about 164,000 BTC on Sept. 14 to just 16,000 BTC on Sept. 29, a 90% decline in 15 days.

Recent buyers are sitting on an average unrealized profit of 33%, the widest margin since December 2024, which gives many holders an incentive to sell rather than add to positions. That cohort locked in gains on 25,700 BTC on Sept. 22, the largest single day of profit-taking so far this year.

Altcoin holders are moving in the same direction. CryptoQuant counted 76,000 altcoin deposits to exchanges over the past seven days, sent from 51,000 separate addresses, the most since October 2025, leaving that supply within easy reach of any short-term bounce.

Traders await Wednesday’s US inflation reading

Bitcoin’s modest gain came alongside a broader risk-on tone across Asia. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.9%, with 10 of its 11 industry groups higher, and government bonds steadied after a recent selloff. SoftBank Group, an investor in OpenAI, jumped more than 6% after Bloomberg reported the AI startup is seeking at least $30 billion in fresh funding at a $1.4 trillion valuation.

Among major tokens, SOL and ZEC led gains, each up nearly 2% to about $119 and just above $1,400 respectively. XRP added about 1% to just under $1.50, while ether, BNB and TRX each rose less than 1%, according to CoinDesk data.

Equity-index futures pointed to gains in Europe and on Wall Street. Traders are awaiting a key US inflation reading later Wednesday (September 30) for signals on the path of interest rates, with a hotter-than-expected print seen lifting the dollar and pressuring bitcoin, and a cooler one favoring further crypto gains.

The BlockWest read. The gap between a near-perfect bull score and shrinking spot demand tells allocators that recent price gains are running on thinner buying than the headline metric suggests. Treasury desks and ETF flows, not the score itself, will decide whether $83,300 holds as support or gives way to a deeper pullback before any renewed push toward $100,000.

Traders now turn to the US inflation report due later Wednesday (September 30), which will help determine whether bitcoin holds near $83,300 or slides further from its $87,400 high, and whether CryptoQuant’s Bull Score keeps climbing toward a perfect 100 even as underlying demand keeps shrinking.

BlockWest is a news publication. Nothing here is investment advice. Read our disclaimer and editorial policy.