Bitcoin Crumbles on ETF Outflows

Nearly half a billion dollars in futures trades just got liquidated

BREAKING NEWS

Sell pressure ramped up something fierce today in the cryptoverse as Bitcoin plummeted all the way back to the $62K range. Bears are attacking the price action from all sides. Let’s explore some of the bigger factors: 

WHAT HAPPENED

With the market becoming more and more concerned interest rates will stay higher for longer, risky investing is finally starting to lose its shine. People are pulling back from more aggressive positions in crypto ahead of a potentially more defensive environment. 

This dynamic went into overdrive when outflows from Greyscale’s GBTC ETF topped $640 million yesterday. According to CoinDesk, inflows to other ETFs were still high—but left the bitcoin ETF space with $15 million in net outflows. A lot of investors took this as more of a sell signal, and the bearish trading just amplified from there. 

SNOWBALLING

This is a classic move in crypto bull runs. Bitcoin fell through $65K—which automatically kicked off sell positions set by traders. This then forced the liquidations of $440 million worth of long positions in BTC, causing the price to freefall. While the sell pressure here has stabilized for Bitcoin, it’s spreading to other assets like Ether, Solana, and XRP. 

WHY IT MATTERS

This is turning into a much bigger test for this latest BTC bull run than expected. Some analysts are calling for Bitcoin to fall as low as $55k before buyers return to the market in force. However, this is still a fairly normal phase of the crypto bull cycle. Bitcoin still has some catalysts ahead, like the halving in ~April. This can help stabilize BTC’s price and get the rally back on track. At the same time, it looks like institutional money may not be as stabilizing an influence as some investors were hoping. BTC has now fallen over 11% since Monday morning.