Bitcoin Sentiment Turns Bullish Despite Q1 Losses
Santiment reported that social media optimism surrounding Bitcoin is growing more and more positive. Industry leaders like Barry Silbert and Michael Saylor are reinforcing the long-term value of holding BTC. While BTC had a tough start to the year, AI and meme coins dominated Q1 2025 investor interest, though scandals like the Libra token collapse raised questions about the sustainability of meme-driven hype.
Bitcoin Optimism Rises
Bitcoin-related sentiment on social media took a noticeable bullish turn, despite the cryptocurrency continuing to fluctuate around the $85,000 mark. According to crypto analytics platform Santiment, traders are showing renewed optimism that Bitcoin could soon reclaim the $90,000 price level, which is a milestone that was last reached on March 6. The optimism seems to be closely tied to broader economic conditions, including developments around global tariffs and macroeconomic indicators.
Santiment’s social sentiment tracker registered a big shift on April 16, moving from neutral territory—below a score of 1.606—into bullish territory with a score of 1.973. This change in sentiment happened even as Bitcoin continued to see high volatility, with price movements climbing as high as $86,000 on April 15 before retracing to $83,000 the next day.
At press time, Bitcoin was priced at $84,792 after its price managed a slight 0.69% climb over the past 24 hours. BTC’s price was also in the green by just over 5% on its weekly time frame.
BTC’s price action over the past 24 hours (Source: CoinMarketCap)
A potential move back above $85,000 could trigger the liquidation of approximately $254 million in short positions, based on data from CoinGlass. This looming risk is contributing to the optimism among traders who believe Bitcoin may soon break out of its current price range.
The upbeat sentiment is shared by several voices in the crypto space. Samson Mow’s firm Jan3 claimed that a $500,000 Bitcoin price target ”isn’t crazy,” while crypto trader “Ted” argued that an increasing global money supply will eventually find its way into Bitcoin. Another trader, known as Titan of Crypto, said that Bitcoin continues to follow Dow Theory, and is still in an uptrend with consistent higher highs and higher lows.
Despite this wave of bullish commentary, not all sentiment indicators are aligned. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index currently reflects a “Fear” score of 33 out of 100, which means that there is still some caution among a large portion of the market. This comes after a disappointing first quarter for the crypto market, where Bitcoin and Ethereum fell by 11.82% and 45.41%, respectively. This made it one of the weakest Q1 performances in recent years.
Crypto fear and greed index (Source: Alternative)
Just Hold Your BTC
Barry Silbert, the CEO of Digital Currency Group, recently reflected on his early Bitcoin journey during an appearance on Raoul Pal's Journey Man podcast. Silbert bought Bitcoin at $7–$8 back in 2011, and shared that while he invested in early-stage crypto companies like Coinbase using Bitcoin, simply holding onto his BTC would have yielded much better returns.
Raoul Pal’s podcast (Source: YouTube)
Silbert’s comments come during the latest surge in Bitcoin optimism, with some industry leaders predicting dramatic price increases in the years to come. Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy, repeatedly forecasted a seven-figure Bitcoin price, and other influential voices are beginning to agree with his projections.
Zach Shapiro, head of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, recently said that if the United States were to buy one million Bitcoin, it could send the price soaring to $1 million per coin. Speaking on Bitcoin Magazine’s podcast, Shapiro said a move like this will trigger a ”global seismic shock.” His comments were reinforced by Bo Hines, executive director of the White House Crypto Council under President Trump, who said that the administration is evaluating budget-neutral strategies for adding Bitcoin to the nation’s strategic reserves.
One strategy under discussion includes revaluing the US Treasury's gold reserves, which are currently pegged at $43 per ounce on the books despite trading at over $3,300 per ounce in the market. Another involves using trade tariffs to fund the purchase of Bitcoin. These ideas reflect the narrative where Bitcoin is being positioned as a potential tool to address the United States’ $36 trillion national debt.
VanEck estimated that Bitcoin-backed long-term bonds could help reduce the national debt by as much as $14 trillion. As the idea of nation-state Bitcoin accumulation gains momentum, Silbert’s hindsight about the value of simply holding BTC rather than deploying it for venture capital may prove more relevant than ever.
AI and Memecoins Dominate
Even though Bitcoin had a rocky start to the year, a new report by CoinGecko revealed that artificial intelligence tokens and meme coins continued to lead investor interest. In fact, they accounted for a combined 62.8% of attention during Q1.
Q1 trending categories (Source: CoinGecko)
AI tokens alone captured 35.7% of global investor interest, surpassing meme coins, which held 27.1%. Among the top 20 crypto narratives for the quarter, six categories were related to meme coins, while five focused on AI.
CoinGecko co-founder Bobby Ong shared in an April 17 post that the market is still clinging to trends from previous quarters, which suggests fatigue from a lack of innovation in crypto storytelling. The spike in meme coin interest earlier in the year was partly driven by political events, particularly around the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. His team launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) and Official Melania tokens in mid-January on the Solana network, WHICH briefly injectED SOME excitement into the meme coin space.
Despite this surge, concerns are rising about the impact of meme coins on more fundamentally driven projects. Utility tokens like Solana have seen major capital outflows after briefly peaking above $270. Some critics argue that the meme coin frenzy diverted investment away from long-term blockchain infrastructure and application development.
SOL’s price action over the past year (Source: CoinMarketCap)
The decline in enthusiasm was accelerated by the collapse of the Libra token,which is a meme coin that was endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei. The token lost 94% of its value in a matter of hours after insiders reportedly withdrew more than $107 million in liquidity, erasing $4 billion in market capitalization. This scandal marked the sudden fall of political memecoins and led to a sharp drop in token creation activity on Solana’s Pump.fun platform.
Despite the turbulence, seasoned traders are still drawn to speculative meme coin opportunities. Nicolai Sondergaard of Nansen noticed that while the meme coin supercycle may be over, smart money is still looking for quick gains from these tokens, which tend to operate outside traditional macroeconomic pressures.
While the broader market appears weary of repeating narratives, meme coins continue to serve as a playground for risk-tolerant investors chasing outsized returns.
Bitcoin Sentiment Turns Bullish Despite Q1 Losses
Santiment reported that social media optimism surrounding Bitcoin is growing more and more positive. Industry leaders like Barry Silbert and Michael Saylor are reinforcing the long-term value of holding BTC. While BTC had a tough start to the year, AI and meme coins dominated Q1 2025 investor interest, though scandals like the Libra token collapse raised questions about the sustainability of meme-driven hype.
Bitcoin Optimism Rises
Bitcoin-related sentiment on social media took a noticeable bullish turn, despite the cryptocurrency continuing to fluctuate around the $85,000 mark. According to crypto analytics platform Santiment, traders are showing renewed optimism that Bitcoin could soon reclaim the $90,000 price level, which is a milestone that was last reached on March 6. The optimism seems to be closely tied to broader economic conditions, including developments around global tariffs and macroeconomic indicators.
Santiment’s social sentiment tracker registered a big shift on April 16, moving from neutral territory—below a score of 1.606—into bullish territory with a score of 1.973. This change in sentiment happened even as Bitcoin continued to see high volatility, with price movements climbing as high as $86,000 on April 15 before retracing to $83,000 the next day.
At press time, Bitcoin was priced at $84,792 after its price managed a slight 0.69% climb over the past 24 hours. BTC’s price was also in the green by just over 5% on its weekly time frame.
BTC’s price action over the past 24 hours (Source: CoinMarketCap)
A potential move back above $85,000 could trigger the liquidation of approximately $254 million in short positions, based on data from CoinGlass. This looming risk is contributing to the optimism among traders who believe Bitcoin may soon break out of its current price range.
The upbeat sentiment is shared by several voices in the crypto space. Samson Mow’s firm Jan3 claimed that a $500,000 Bitcoin price target ”isn’t crazy,” while crypto trader “Ted” argued that an increasing global money supply will eventually find its way into Bitcoin. Another trader, known as Titan of Crypto, said that Bitcoin continues to follow Dow Theory, and is still in an uptrend with consistent higher highs and higher lows.
Despite this wave of bullish commentary, not all sentiment indicators are aligned. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index currently reflects a “Fear” score of 33 out of 100, which means that there is still some caution among a large portion of the market. This comes after a disappointing first quarter for the crypto market, where Bitcoin and Ethereum fell by 11.82% and 45.41%, respectively. This made it one of the weakest Q1 performances in recent years.
Crypto fear and greed index (Source: Alternative)
Just Hold Your BTC
Barry Silbert, the CEO of Digital Currency Group, recently reflected on his early Bitcoin journey during an appearance on Raoul Pal's Journey Man podcast. Silbert bought Bitcoin at $7–$8 back in 2011, and shared that while he invested in early-stage crypto companies like Coinbase using Bitcoin, simply holding onto his BTC would have yielded much better returns.
Raoul Pal’s podcast (Source: YouTube)
Silbert’s comments come during the latest surge in Bitcoin optimism, with some industry leaders predicting dramatic price increases in the years to come. Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy, repeatedly forecasted a seven-figure Bitcoin price, and other influential voices are beginning to agree with his projections.
Zach Shapiro, head of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, recently said that if the United States were to buy one million Bitcoin, it could send the price soaring to $1 million per coin. Speaking on Bitcoin Magazine’s podcast, Shapiro said a move like this will trigger a ”global seismic shock.” His comments were reinforced by Bo Hines, executive director of the White House Crypto Council under President Trump, who said that the administration is evaluating budget-neutral strategies for adding Bitcoin to the nation’s strategic reserves.
One strategy under discussion includes revaluing the US Treasury's gold reserves, which are currently pegged at $43 per ounce on the books despite trading at over $3,300 per ounce in the market. Another involves using trade tariffs to fund the purchase of Bitcoin. These ideas reflect the narrative where Bitcoin is being positioned as a potential tool to address the United States’ $36 trillion national debt.
VanEck estimated that Bitcoin-backed long-term bonds could help reduce the national debt by as much as $14 trillion. As the idea of nation-state Bitcoin accumulation gains momentum, Silbert’s hindsight about the value of simply holding BTC rather than deploying it for venture capital may prove more relevant than ever.
AI and Memecoins Dominate
Even though Bitcoin had a rocky start to the year, a new report by CoinGecko revealed that artificial intelligence tokens and meme coins continued to lead investor interest. In fact, they accounted for a combined 62.8% of attention during Q1.
Q1 trending categories (Source: CoinGecko)
AI tokens alone captured 35.7% of global investor interest, surpassing meme coins, which held 27.1%. Among the top 20 crypto narratives for the quarter, six categories were related to meme coins, while five focused on AI.
CoinGecko co-founder Bobby Ong shared in an April 17 post that the market is still clinging to trends from previous quarters, which suggests fatigue from a lack of innovation in crypto storytelling. The spike in meme coin interest earlier in the year was partly driven by political events, particularly around the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. His team launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) and Official Melania tokens in mid-January on the Solana network, WHICH briefly injectED SOME excitement into the meme coin space.
Despite this surge, concerns are rising about the impact of meme coins on more fundamentally driven projects. Utility tokens like Solana have seen major capital outflows after briefly peaking above $270. Some critics argue that the meme coin frenzy diverted investment away from long-term blockchain infrastructure and application development.
SOL’s price action over the past year (Source: CoinMarketCap)
The decline in enthusiasm was accelerated by the collapse of the Libra token,which is a meme coin that was endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei. The token lost 94% of its value in a matter of hours after insiders reportedly withdrew more than $107 million in liquidity, erasing $4 billion in market capitalization. This scandal marked the sudden fall of political memecoins and led to a sharp drop in token creation activity on Solana’s Pump.fun platform.
Despite the turbulence, seasoned traders are still drawn to speculative meme coin opportunities. Nicolai Sondergaard of Nansen noticed that while the meme coin supercycle may be over, smart money is still looking for quick gains from these tokens, which tend to operate outside traditional macroeconomic pressures.
While the broader market appears weary of repeating narratives, meme coins continue to serve as a playground for risk-tolerant investors chasing outsized returns.