Bitcoin is in 'full capitulation mode' as the token tumbles below $70,000

• Analysts are eyeing even steeper losses for bitcoin after the crypto broke below $70,000 on Thursday.
• The token has been caught in a sustained downturn since peaking in October.
• Some say the crypto could find support at its 200-week moving average, which hovers around $58,000.

The pain for bitcoin is worsening.

Fear of an even more prolonged downturn has begun to seep into conversations among investors as bitcoin's sell-off brought the top crypto to a 15-month low below $70,000 on Thursday.

Bitcoin's bear market over the last several months has shaved 44% off the token's price since it hit an all-time high around $126,000. Now, analysts say more pain could be coming.

Nic Puckrin, an investment analyst at Coin Bureau, said he saw the crypto potentially dropping to as low as $55,700 if it failed to hold above $70,000.

"As Bitcoin continues its slide below the psychological barrier of $70,000, it's clear the crypto market is now in full capitulation mode," Puckrin wrote in a note on Thursday, speculating that the decline was driven by "large-scale selling by Bitcoin whales," as well as some institutional selling.

"If previous cycles are anything to go by, this is no longer a short-term correction, but rather a transition from distribution to reset — and these typically take months, not weeks," said.

Zack Shapiro, the head of policy at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, said he believes the long-term fundamentals supporting bitcoin — like institutional adoption — are still intact. However, he wouldn't be surprised if the crypto didn't find support until it hit its 200-week moving average around $58,000, implying another 15% downside.

"It's some panic selling, absolutely for sure. Some profit taking, absolutely for sure," he told Business Insider, adding that he believed many of the sellers were early bitcoin investors cashing out. "There's still more sellers than buyers."

Katie Stockton, a leading technical strategist, told Business Insider that should the crypto break meaningfully below $70,000, her team expects the token to fall to around $57,800 before finding support.

"Looking long-term, the breach of the weekly cloud tells us the cyclical uptrend has lost hold, supporting a more volatile few months," she wrote in a note this week.

More severe forecasts for bitcoin are also circulating.

In a note to clients on Wednesday, Stifel said it sees bitcoin potentially dropping another 45% from current levels to hit $38,000, citing its analysis of bitcoin's bear-market lows over the last 15 years.

Michael Burry, the famed investor of "The Big Short" and a longtime bitcoin skeptic, warned investors that bitcoin could head into a "death spiral" in a post on his Substack this week, and outlined various dire scenarios possible if bitcoin continues to slide.

John Blank, the chief equity strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said this week he saw bitcoin potentially dropping as low as $40,000 over the next six to eight months, citing factors such as the typical length of a bitcoin winter and potential selling by corporate buyers, like Michael Saylor's Strategy.