In a significant development this week, Deribit’s Asia-Pacific Business Director, Lin Chen, reported a substantial net outflow from the BTC ETF, amounting to $829.9 million, equating to a decrease of 10,358.34 BTC. Optical inflows were minimal, with only 160.44 BTC entering on Wednesday, underscoring the prevailing bearish sentiment in the market. Notably, investment giants BlackRock and Fidelity offloaded significant portions of their holdings, reducing their stakes by 4,239.38 BTC and 3,813.02 BTC, respectively. Currently, Bitcoin is trading around $84,000, with the market’s fear/greed index resting at 30, indicating heightened anxiety among investors amidst upcoming challenges such as the March 20th Fed interest rate meeting.
Ethereum’s situation mirrored that of Bitcoin, facing a brutal backlash with a total net outflow of $189.9 million and a staggering reduction of 99,266.82 ETH. BlackRock and Fidelity also scaled back their ETH holdings, with reductions of 33,776.47 ETH and 31,695.05 ETH respectively, amplifying sell-side pressure. As market dynamics shift, the price of ETH has slipped below the $2,000 threshold, while the ETH/BTC exchange rate continues to struggle, presently standing at just 0.0229.