Bitcoin struggled through a choppy session on Wednesday, falling as low as $60,541, slipping from $62,000. This huge drop liquidated $40 million worth of long positions, indicating bitcoin sell pressure as the driving factor behind this move. The movement also affected the broader cryptocurrency market which witnessed $169.45 million worth of liquidations across the board over the last 24 hours. The Coinbase Premium Gap, a significant indicator that tracks the differences in price between Coinbase Pro and Binance, dipped to -$48.4, indicating intensified selling pressure from U.S. buyers of institutional size as well.
$40M In Longs Liquidated Across 14 Hours
As of Wednesday evening, 7.35 p.m. Eastern time precisely, the total cryptocurrency market cap stood at $2.13 trillion, marking a 1% drop at the close of the day. Bitcoin fell by almost 2%, while Ethereum saw a slight decrease of around 1%. Looking at existing data, Market analyst Maartunn shared invaluable insights and pointed out that “the Coinbase Premium dropped to -$41…” with the drop indicating heavy selling activity from institutions, particularly in the U.S.
The gap only got larger by mid-Wednesday as the Coinbase Premium Gap stretched to -$48.45. The metric compares Bitcoin price on Coinbase Pro (USD pair) vs Binance (USDT pair). If the premium falls or goes into a negative gap, it is evidence of selling activity and decreased buying pressure, typically found during bearish conditions.
Coinbase Premium and Global Sell-off Indicators
While there have been variations (sometimes significant ones) from year-to-year, the overall decades-long trend has seen pretty consistent market results that generally haven’t varied too extremely from the relatively small premiums sellers began with.
This is not new; the volatility and unpredictability all culminate in this Bitcoin sell pressure. The premium gap has been swinging up and down for quite a while. The number one cryptocurrency by market was off 1.15% on Sept. 25 after two big down days in the prior session of trading performances. Last month, the Bitcoin price fell for three consecutive trading days before seeing a several-day rebound.
It also dipped to a 0.11% drop on Oct. 5 but then again rebounded two days later to end at an unnoticeable 0.8% premium. These changes may seem small but reveal institutional behaviour’s influence on markets. It goes without saying that certain inconsistencies in the market are sometimes required to keep an optimum balance.
According to sources, the Korean market too saw its own premium go negative last week on a global scale pointing to extended market uncertainty beyond the U.S.
Institutional Influence on Bitcoin Market Behaviour
However, with institutional investors still in the picture, putting selling pressure on Bitcoin’s price moves, market observers remain wary. Given these illiquid and ongoing developments, together with premiums and liquidations that take unpredictable moves up or down week to week, it would imply this sort of premium-driven volatility in Bitcoin price could continue. This tug of war between institutional selling and the rest of the market is still driving events in crypto, with consequences that can be as much seen over a one-second horizon as over 12 months.
The direction Bitcoin takes next will depend on whether buyers can absorb the Bitcoin sell pressure especially as institutional traders come back and reassess their holdings. Global Bitcoin demand remains stagnant but bullish macro factors could change this.
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