Bitcoin (BTC) managed to preserve support at $8,000 on Nov. 20, continuing an uneasy sideways pattern since dipping to $7,990 the day before.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin markets “more bearish than expected”

Data from Coin360 showed BTC/USD ranging between just above $8,000 and a 24-hour high of $8,150, with volatility limited since Tuesday.

Previously, Bitcoin had fallen from highs of $8,600 to briefly reenter the $7,000 range before rebounding to press-time levels.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360

As Cointelegraph reported, the behavior has turned analysts broadly bearish on the Bitcoin price outlook, not just for the short term, but up to and including next May’s block reward halving.

In particular, Willy Woo and Tone Vays confirmed the overall bearish market sentiment on Wednesday, even anticipating a potential drop to $4,500 for Bitcoin.

For regular Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, the prognosis was also for downward movements if signs of a rebound failed to materialize.

“1) Break back above and hold this support. Break back to $8,300 would be nice. 2) Lose it -> $7,800 and $7,300 next areas to aim,” he summarized in his latest Twitter update on Monday.

Nonetheless, the subsequent sideways period was a surprise. “The price of $BTC is not accelerating down, which is interesting,” he added.

Fellow contributor filbfilb meanwhile agreed with Woo and Vays. “I agree that the market is more bearish than we expected it to be,” he said in private comments on Wednesday.

Altcoins limit previous losses

Altcoin markets showed similar restraint to Bitcoin on Wednesday after a day of heavy losses. Out of the top twenty cryptocurrencies by market cap, most saw moves of less than 1% up or down.

Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin, is up 0.91% on the day to remain around the $175 mark.

Ether seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360

Some fared poorly, notably VeChain (VET), which shed 8.5% after posting strong performance in line with other Chinese coins, but managed to slightly recover to $0.0065 by press time. Tezos (XTZ) meanwhile is seeing gains of over 5%.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap is $221.4 billion, with Bitcoin’s share at 65.27%.