Headwinds for Bitcoin (BTC) continue and may contribute to lower prices in the coming days, despite clear early successes by several US-listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Bitcoin prices fell as much as 15% following the long-awaited ETF listing last week, with outflows from Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust product said to be contributing to downward pressure.
ETF volume data provided by BlackRock (BLK), Fidelity, and Bitwise cumulatively surpassed the $500 million mark earlier this week – indicating demand from regulated funds and professional traders. Coinbase (COIN), the custodian of many exchange-traded fund (ETF) providers, has seen record high volumes of OTC desk transfers.
But other downside risks remain, on-chain analysis firm CryptoQuant said in a Thursday note shared with CoinDesk.
“Many on-chain metrics and indicators still indicate that the price correction may not be over or at least that a new high is still out of the question,” CryptoQuant analysts said. “Short-term traders and large Bitcoin holders are still selling heavily in the context of a ‘risk off’ stance.
“In addition, unrealized profit margins have not fallen enough to exhaust sellers,” she added. The company was among the few to take a contrarian view on Bitcoin ETF approvals, a view that many traders expected would lead to price gains after their launch.
Cryptocurrency traders shared the sentiment, noting that any strength to the upside had diminished as spot sales occurred.
“Although Bitcoin’s intraday range exceeded 3.5%, reaching the highs of the recent trading range led to a systematic sell-off early in the day,” Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, said in an email to CoinDesk. Wednesday”.
“Intraday dynamics instead point to systematic sell-offs near local highs, while rebounds occur sharply and with less volume. This is a cautionary note but not at all a judgment on the crypto bull market,” Kubtsikevich added.