Noah Carter
Bitcoin retreated this week, falling below $95,000, as ETF inflows stalled and on-chain data pointed to renewed miner selling. CoinShares’ latest Digital Asset Fund Flows Report showed weekly BTC inflows dropping to $105 million, the lowest since January.
Meanwhile, miners increased their exchange deposits by nearly 22%, according to CryptoQuant’s Miner Flow Index . Glassnode also reported a notable uptick in miner outflows to spot exchanges .
Background Context
Bitcoin’s recent run above $100K was fueled by heavy inflows into U.S. spot ETFs such as BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC . But as Treasury yields spiked and the Fed adopted a hawkish tone, institutional demand cooled. Rising mining difficulty—available via BTC.com’s difficulty tracker —has pushed miners to increase BTC sales to cover operational costs.
Why This News Matters
This downturn highlights an important dynamic:
- ETF flows now drive a large share of marginal BTC demand, meaning slow inflows can quickly translate into market volatility.
- Miner selling traditionally acts as a short-term bearish signal, especially during periods of rising difficulty and reduced block rewards.
- With volatility climbing on derivatives platforms such as Binance, OKX, and CME Bitcoin Futures, leveraged positions are increasingly sensitive to downward price swings.
This matters not only for crypto traders but also for macro investors who treat Bitcoin as a liquidity-sensitive asset correlated with real yields and risk sentiment.
Our Expert Take
Bitcoin’s pullback aligns with historical patterns: even during strong bull cycles, BTC typically experiences 10–15% retracements. The slowdown in ETF inflows is temporary rather than structural, and U.S. institutional interest remains intact—supported by sustained growth in AUM across new ETFs .
Key support lies around $92K–94K, a zone reinforced by on-chain realized price metrics (Glassnode). A failure to hold could trigger deeper liquidations on futures markets.
Investors should monitor:
- ETF inflow data from issuers (BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise)
- Miner outflows tracked on CryptoQuant and Glassnode
- U.S. economic data releases influencing real yields
