Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading around the $21k zone for a few days now, following a drop from its peak of $24,196 this month. The asset saw a low of $20,776 – its lowest value in 7 days – but has since surged above the $21k mark. Regardless, a recent chart indicates that most long-term holders are currently in loss, but an analyst has identified an attractive buy zone at this stage.

Attractive buy zone highlighted at an LTH-SOPR level of 0.38 – the lowest of the bear market

According to a CryptoQuant chart, the BTC LTH-SOPR metric is below the value of 1, indicating that most investors who have been long-term holders (LTH) of BTC for up to 155 days are currently at a loss.

With a value of 0.38, the LTH-SOPR has dipped to the lowest point of the current bear market, and market watchers expect it to sink even further due to new market realities, including but not limited to Bitcoin’s recent growing entanglement with traditional finance that has subjected the asset to the effects of macroeconomic conditions.

Expert analyst at CryptoQuant, Dan Lim, has noted that the LTH-SOPR could further dip as the state of the economy deteriorates. However, Lim mentioned that the current level is an attractive buy zone for BTC for the long term. “…but an attractive buy looks good to wait a bit long,” he added.

BTC’s aSOPR indicator shows a possible market bottom

In his prediction of a further decline, Lim forecasted a bottom value of 0.25 for the BTC LTH-SOPR metric – the lowest the crypto community would witness. In the challenging market conditions of 2015, the metric sank to 0.35; but it reached a low of 0.28 during the bear market of 2018.

BTC has dipped by 9.18% in the past seven days, it is, therefore, unsurprising that the LTH-SOPR indicator reached such depressing levels. Additionally, to complement the LTH-SOPR data, BTC’s adjusted SOPR (aSOPR) shows a current value of 0.96, indicating that most investors are selling at a loss. While this is concerning, it can also serve as proof of a market bottom, showing an excellent buy zone.

As of the time of writing, BTC trades at $21,490, having dipped by 0.32% in the past hour. However, the asset has seen a slight price increase of 0.74% in the past 24H. After shedding off some of the past week’s gains, it appears BTC is bouncing back, albeit at a slow pace.