Bitcoin traders are watching the selloff with purpose on crypto. It is on the verge of a true breakout and the total market cap overall is close to $3 trillion. The market continues to find its footing amidst volatility. Spot bitcoin ETF outflows and former President Donald Trump’s global cooling tariff musings make the list.
The 200-day moving average, now running through $3.01 trillion, is an important support and resistance level closely watched by traders. What’s really needed is for a strong and positive global catalyst to trigger that market breakout. This trailblazing recognition could take us a step closer to the $3.5 trillion landmark.
That’s a far cry from December, when bitcoin was consolidating between $93,000 and $95,000 from April 25 to May 27! As of Thursday afternoon, Bitcoin was trading around $95,000. This consolidation phase, while concerning to some investors, is viewed by analysts as a period where strength is built for the next move up.
"BTC continues to experience volatility, forming a consolidation range between $93,000 and $95,000 since April 25, building momentum for a potential breakout." - Pat Zhang
Nonetheless, market sentiment is still skittish after recent outflows from the new spot Bitcoin ETFs. As of Wednesday, $56 million had flowed out of these ETFs. That is a worrisome sign, particularly as a massive $3 billion had just recently poured into U.S.-listed ETFs over an eight-day streak.
The political side has an important role and here, President Donald Trump’s tariff program injects a double dose of uncertainty. Perception trump’s big blunder was to understand that his tariff program had perception issues. Regardless, as it stood, he was still committed to pursuing it, which was an enormous political risk to the market.
Whale activity Some crypto analysts have proclaimed whale activity as one of the strongest future price indicators.
"The average funding rate for BTC has been negative over the past week, which is rare, indicating intense whale activity both on and off exchanges" - Zhang
"Following these periods of negative financing rates, BTC experienced strong upward trends, suggesting that whale accumulation could be positioning BTC for a potential upward move" - Zhang
The next key catalyst for a possible breakout looks set to be Friday’s labor market data.
"Such long consolidations usually accumulate strength for further movement. The next major trigger is likely to be Friday’s labour market data" - Alex Kuptsikevich
Furthermore, arbitrage opportunities across many platforms that inject $1K into a pool have played a significant role in manipulating the market.
