Bitcoin Momentum Stalls After Heavy Investor Profit Taking
After a lightning rebound, bitcoin plunges back below $70,000 and rekindles doubts about the strength of the recent bullish momentum. Capital flows, trader activity, and several market indicators signal a clear shift: selling pressure is taking over again. Behind this retreat, three major factors reshape the short-term balance.
In brief
- Bitcoin falls back below the $70,000 threshold after a rapid 5% drop in two days.
- Short-term investors secure their gains, triggering large BTC transfers to exchanges.
- Over 27,000 BTC moved in 24 hours, one of the highest profit-taking volumes in recent months.
- Several key technical levels emerge as decisive zones for stabilization or continuation of the movement.
Massive profit-taking on bitcoin breaks the momentum
Bitcoin has lost ground again and falls below a threshold closely monitored by the market. In two days, the asset declined by 5 %, slipping again below $70,000 and re-entering its monthly trading zone. This break comes after an attempt to hold recent highs that did not withstand the return of selling pressure.
On-chain data show that the movement is largely explained by short-term arbitrage. Position investors took advantage of the rebound to secure their gains, causing an influx of sell orders on exchanges and fueling the price pullback.
- Analyst Darkfost indicates that “more than 27,000 BTC of profits have been transferred to exchanges from short-term investor wallets over the past 24 hours” ;
- This volume is among the largest profitable transfers observed for short-term holders since November 2025 ;
- The secured gains mostly came from positions opened between one week and one month earlier ;
- The realized price for these investors was around $68,000, a coherent cash-out zone.
Confirmed selling pressure and technical signals under watch
Derivatives markets confirm this dominance of sellers. Analyst IT Tech observes that “both spot markets and perpetual futures contracts have moved into a negative dynamic on the cumulative volume delta (CVD) indicator”.
This indicator measures the difference between buy and sell volumes; a move into negative territory indicates dominant selling pressure. In detail, the spot CVD fell to -$202.49 million, while the perpetual contracts CVD retreated to -$185.60 million. Over the same period, buying liquidity contracted, limiting the market’s ability to absorb sell orders.
U.S. demand also shows signs of fatigue around recent highs. The Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the bitcoin price gap between Coinbase and offshore platforms, has lost momentum approaching $74,000.
The indicator briefly exceeded 0.08, signaling strong buying activity on Coinbase, before reversing when the price underwent a correction. Meanwhile, Michaël van de Poppe, founder of MN Capital, notes that “Friday U.S. sessions led to massive sales across all risky assets, including the Nasdaq”, an unfavorable context that also weighs on cryptos.
Technically, several zones now concentrate operators’ attention. Michaël van de Poppe estimates that keeping bitcoin in the $67,000 – $68,000 zone could stabilize the short-term trend before a bullish recovery.
Trader Titan of Crypto mentions the presence of a “fair value gap”, a low liquidity zone created by a rapid price movement likely to attract new trades. He specifies that the lower bound of this zone is near $66,500, a level monitored as a possible market equilibrium point.
These technical reference points, combined with capital flows and demand signals, sketch a market in adjustment phase where bitcoin’s ability to defend its immediate supports will guide the movement’s next steps.
Under pressure after a wave of profit-taking and unfavorable market signals, the crypto market enters an adjustment phase. In the short term, buyers’ ability to defend supports will be decisive. In this volatile environment, the bitcoin price remains closely linked to capital flows, liquidity, and investor sentiment.
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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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