What Bitcoin Did
What Bitcoin Did

Bitcoin’s Bull Market Is Back | Checkmate

May 19, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Bitcoin's market behavior and the forces shaping it formed the core of this discussion between the host and on-chain analyst Checkmate. The conversation centered on whether the recent low near 60k marked the end of the bear market, how on-chain metrics reveal shifts in holder behavior, the implications of rising global yields, and the effects of proposed tax changes in Australia. Checkmate framed the analysis around observable data thresholds rather than predictions, stressing that confidence builds gradually through repeated tests of key levels and that sentiment changes only after multiple confirmations.

Bitcoin Market Phase and Probability Assessment

Checkmate placed the potential start of a new bull market at the February low near 60k, describing it as a price-pain capitulation where loss realization and fear peaked simultaneously. He assigned an 80 percent probability that this low holds, noting that prior cycles showed bottoms forming through slow multi-month grinds rather than immediate reversals. The remaining 20 percent chance allows for a test of 65k or 75k to establish a higher low. He contrasted this with recency bias from 2022, where a lower low occurred, but argued that current data does not support a repeat at the same scale. Technical signals such as weekly RSI reaching 26 and Bitcoin trading below its 200-day moving average were cited as conditions that h

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:07) **Bull or Bear Market Assessment** - Checkmate frames the debate on whether the bear market ended at the February low and the bull is now active.
  • 2 (02:20) **Historical Bear Market Comparisons** - Review of prior cycles (2015, 2018, FTX) to assess odds of lower lows versus higher lows.
  • 3 (04:06) **Key Price Levels and Defense Lines** - Identifies 78k, 85k and 95k as successive supply clusters and moving-average thresholds.
  • 4 (06:29) **Metrics Supporting Bull Case** - Technical and on-chain signals that have already triggered.
  • 5 (11:41) **Realized Price Explained** - Definition of realized cap versus spot market cap and why it matters for cycle bottoms.
  • 6 (14:14) **True Market Mean** - Checkmate’s coin-days-destroyed framework for active investor cost basis.
  • 7 (16:50) **Sentiment Flipping Process** - How crossing cost-basis clusters reverses behavior from selling rips to buying dips.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

“We’re in an era where the monetary system is changing. The world is going to look very different on the other side of this thing.”

Checkmate is back on the show to explain why Bitcoin may already be back in a bull market and why the bigger story is not just the price, but the system beginning to crack.

We get into his case that the bottom is likely in, why the $60k flush looked like a real capitulation event, and the levels that matter now. Checkmate breaks down the on-chain data behind his 80% bull-market thesis, why bears may be running out of road, and what happens when sentiment flips from selling rips to buying dips.

We also get into rising bond yields, broken fiscal systems, the end of trust in government debt, Bitcoin vs gold, ETF flows, Strategy/MSTR risk, Coinbase custody risk, and why the world is moving towards assets that sit outside the system.

We then get into Australia’s proposed capital gains tax changes, why Checkmate sees them as a direct attack on savers, builders and young people, and why tax policy may become one of the next major battlegrounds for Bitcoiners.

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