Bitcoin (BTC) has been facing an “extended level of FUD” on social media platform X amid sideways trading at the $65,000 mark, according to data from cryptocurrency intelligence platform Santiment.

“This extended level of FUD is rare, as traders continue to capitulate,” Santiment wrote in a June 20 X post. FUD stands for fear, uncertainty and doubt.

“The crowd is mainly fearful or disinterested toward Bitcoin as prices range between $65K to $66K,” it added.

Bitcoin’s price has fluctuated between highs near $67,294 and lows around $64,180 over the last week, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Santiment pointed to its Weighted Sentiment Index — a metric that measures Bitcoin mentions on X and compares the ratio of positive to negative comments — remaining negative since May 23.

At the time of publication, it stands at -0.738, indicating that Bitcoin mentions are predominantly negative on X.

However, positive events for Bitcoin, such as the approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on Jan. 10, and the Bitcoin halving on April 20, both saw the indicator spike to positive levels, 4.49 and 2.35, respectively.

Negative sentiment toward Bitcoin on social media has come from all ends of the crypto community, including traders and analysts with significant followings.

“Bitcoin is around 60 days into a ~150-day long sideways slog since the halving,” Glassnode lead analyst James Check aka “Checkmatey” wrote in a June 19 X post.

“Months of sideways price action -- the most boring phase of the bull market,” pseudonymous crypto trader Jelle added.

“Bitcoin is pretty boring right now,” pseudonymous crypto trader Trader Cobb added.

Related: Traders unbothered by Bitcoin’s sub-$65K levels, say BTC price remains ‘high and steady’

Some believe the lengthy consolidation could be making way for a meteoric price surge.

On June 13, Cointelegraph reported that Bitcoin was in its longest period of consolidation, at 92 days at the time, with analysts saying the extended steadiness could be setting the asset up for a “massive upside rally.”

“Generally, the longer a consolidation, the larger the expansion afterward,” pseudonymous crypto trader Daan Crypto Trades wrote.

Meanwhile, another crypto market sentiment gauge, the Fear and Greed Index, is showing a Greed reading of 63 at the time of writing, down 11 points over the past seven days.

While this metric also considers social media sentiment, it analyzes other factors such as volatility, market momentum and volume, market dominance, and current trends.

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.