Bitcoin price growth above the $82 thousand mark this week did not receive support from a key group of US institutional investors. According to data from the analytical platform CryptoQuant, the so-called Coinbase premium was not recorded at the moment of growth, RBC writes.
This indicator tracks the difference in the price of bitcoin on the American exchange Coinbase, as the main gateway for American capital, and international platforms. A positive value indicates high demand from US investors, presumably institutional investors. In contrast, a negative value, which has persisted since late April, means that global traders are willing to pay more than Americans. This implies weak institutional demand for bitcoin from the US.
On May 10, the bitcoin (BTC) exchange rate approached the $82.5k mark, momentarily adding almost 9% since the beginning of the month. After that, the rate declined for three days to $78.7 thousand on May 13. On May 14, 18:45 Moscow time quotes recovered to $81.2 thousand.
“Wrong growth”
The growth was driven by margin traders rather than U.S. spot buyers, and the sustainability of this movement is questionable, experts said, adding that the emerging demand is still unable to cope with the pressure from sellers.
CryptoQuant pointed out that the indicator, which measures how many new bitcoins are absorbed by the market relative to the release of mining coins and the movement of “old” bitcoins that have not moved for an extended period of time, has shrunk to a negative minus 11,000 BTC as of mid-May, down from minus 91,000 BTC in April. This indicates that the pressure of sellers, although reduced, still prevails over buyers.
This means, according to analysts, that traders used leverage rather than actual purchases of the asset. Experts warn that such rallies tend to be less durable because futures positions can be liquidated quickly.
Analysts also drew a parallel to March 2022, when bitcoin rose 43% before stopping at its 200-day moving average and resuming a downtrend.
The current rally pattern has signs of a rebound rather than a new accumulation phase, CryptoQuant noted in its weekly report.
