U.S. selling pressure weighs on crypto as Bitcoin hovers near $70,000

The Global crypto markets are dealing with heavy selling pressure after last week’s sharp selloff. Signs have emerged that institutional demand has faded, and US-based investors continue to drive selling. Bitcoin price is hovering around $70,000, while the cumulative crypto market cap looks stuck around $2.35 trillion.

Wintermute, in a fresh report, stated that its internal over-the-counter flow data showed US counterparties were heavy sellers throughout the week. The firm also noted that the so-called Coinbase premium stayed in negative territory during the entire downturn. That pattern has held since December, and it points to ongoing US selling pressure rather than isolated liquidation events.

No spot demand, no recovery

The report mentioned that spot volumes remain thin as leverage continues to dominate price action. Wintermute said that without a meaningful rebuild in open interest, follow-through in either direction is likely to stay limited. It added that a structural recovery would require spot demand to return. As of now, it sees little chance of that.

Bitcoin price broke below $80,000 over the weekend for the first time since April 2025. However, liquidations breached $2.7 billion. Prices continued to dip lower before finding buyers near $60,000. BTC then rebounded into the low $70,000s. The aftermath of the events turned out that all the gains since the November 2024 US election were erased.

From its October peak near $126,000, Bitcoin is now down roughly 50%. This marks the largest drawdown since 2022 for the token. BTC price dropped by another 10% in the last 7 days. It is trading at an average price of $69,406 at the press time.

Ethereum price has dropped by more than 35% in the last 30 days. ETH is trading at an average price of $2,092 at the press time.

Wintermute highlighted three catalysts that hit markets at once. US President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair strengthened the dollar. On the other side, weak results from major technology firms weighed on risk sentiment. Disappointing Mag7 earnings with Microsoft down 10% sharply was one of them.

A massive reversal in precious metals added to the shock. Silver lost around 40% in three days after hitting record highs. Markets managed to take several days to process the signals before shifting decisively into risk-off mode. Wintermute said this negative skew is typical of bear market conditions.

Crypto upside looks harder to sustain

The report estimates that total unrealized losses across digital asset treasuries are near $25 billion. The result is that many firms now sit below acquisition costs. It added that firms behave less like marginal buyers and more like passive holders. But when capital raising is unattractive, upside becomes harder to sustain.

Amid all the emerging pressure, it looks like the institutional bid has faded. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen roughly $6.2 billion in total net outflows since November. This turns out to be the longest redemption streak since launch.

When ETF sponsors redeem shares, they sell spot bitcoin into falling markets. Wintermute states that this creates a self-reinforcing feedback loop.

BlackRock’s IBIT sits at the center of the process. The fund has both the largest ETF holder and the largest source of incremental supply during redemptions. IBIT traded more than $10 billion in notional volume last week. Derivatives markets show similar concentration. Wintermute said IBIT and Deribit now account for about half of crypto options activity.

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