Bitcoin continued its downward trend on Monday, falling as low as $71,479, a level not seen since early April. In the past 24 hours, BTC has dropped nearly 3%, and has fallen more than 7% in the past week. The market pressure is mainly attributed to ETF withdrawals, institutional selling, and increased long liquidation.
ETF outflows drag down year-to-date performance
Bitcoin ETFs have seen net outflows for 10 consecutive trading days, with a cumulative outflow of nearly $3 billion. As this round of withdrawals continues to expand, the year-to-date cash flow of related exchange-traded products has turned from positive to negative.
This means that the overall amount of money investors have allocated to Bitcoin through ETFs this year is lower than at the beginning of the year. This drawdown also reflects that some investors are cashing out or shifting to other asset allocations.
Strategy sold 32 bitcoins last week.
In addition to ETF holders reducing their holdings, the actions of corporate holders of Bitcoin are also attracting attention. Strategy, which holds over $60 billion worth of Bitcoin, sold 32 BTC last week, cashing out approximately $2.5 million, with an average selling price of about $77,135.
This transaction comes shortly after the company's chairman and founder, Michael Saylor, stated that he "may sell some of his Bitcoin." According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the purpose of the sale is to fund the company's preferred stock dividend payments.
Long liquidation exacerbates short-term pressure.
Passive liquidation in the derivatives market further amplified the decline. CoinGlass data shows that in the past 24 hours, approximately $155 million in Bitcoin-related positions were liquidated, with about 94% of that coming from long positions betting on an upward move.
After a continuous decline, Bitcoin has fallen by nearly 8% in the past month, and has retreated by about 43% from its all-time high of $126,080. Continued capital outflows, corporate selling, and the clearing of leveraged positions are collectively suppressing short-term market sentiment.
