As has been the running theme since the launch of spot ETFs back in January, price volatility in bitcoin picked up right as the opening bell rang on Wall Street at 9:30 AM, with price rallying over 4.5% or over $3000, breaking above the $70,000 price point by lunch hour.

Monday saw most spot ETFs boasting an impressive 11.37% rally, following a 4.3% gap-up from Friday’s close. In the physical bitcoin markets, prices soared to an intraday high of $71,269, marking a $4,000 gain from the previous week’s close. Throughout the week, bitcoin danced around the $70,000 mark, with Wednesday witnessing a bullish attempt to breach Monday’s peak. However, sellers swiftly intervened after a brief surge to $71,800, resulting in a rejection and a subsequent 5% dip to a weekly low of $68,390. This downward move triggered over $39 million in short liquidations on Wednesday alone, according to Coinglass data.

Although bitcoin failed to sustain momentum above the $70,000 threshold, it still managed to achieve a significant milestone, establishing a new all-time record monthly close of $71,530 on the CME Futures chart. This surpasses the previous monthly closing peak of $63,010, which was set in October 2021.

Exchange Liquidation Data

Reviewing the liquidation maps on leveraged exchanges reveals an unusual surge in short positions following bitcoin’s rejection at the $71,500 level. Should the price breach the pivotal $73,835 mark and exceed $74,000, it would trigger liquidations totaling over $1.81 billion.

It appears that a significant number of short-sellers have set their stop levels just above Wednesday’s intraday peak, indicating potential volatility ahead.

ETF Flows Update

Spot ETF flows experienced a bullish reversal this week, breaking a five-day losing streak from the previous week. Notably, each trading day saw net inflows, with Tuesday leading with $418 million.

Total net assets of spot ETF holdings have surged to $59.12 billion, marking a 12.5% increase or $7 billion increase from the previous week. Another 3.18% increase in flows next week would surpass the previous peak of $61 billion recorded on March 12.

Bitcoin Exchange Balance

The downtrend in the balance of bitcoin on exchanges persisted this week, signaling bullish sentiment in the market. A decrease in exchange balance suggests investors and traders are transferring their coins offline, possibly to cold storage.

Alternatively, the decline in bitcoin supply on exchanges could be attributed to ETF issuers like Blackrock and VanEck entering the market to purchase spot holdings. At the beginning of the month, there were 1.82 million bitcoin available on exchanges, but by month-end, the aggregate supply had decreased by 3% to 1.77 million.

To contextualize, this translates to fifty thousand bitcoin being moved off exchanges, representing a $3.5 billion nominal bitcoin supply moving offline.

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentencing

The collapse of FTX in November 2022 and its subsequent legal battles have undoubtedly dominated discussions among crypto enthusiasts and the general public alike, elevating FTX and SBF to household names in recent years.

Beyond the courtroom drama, the fallout significantly impacted the price trajectory of bitcoin & crypto markets in the aftermath. This week, the sentencing for Sam Bankman-Fried concluded in the Southern District of New York, resulting in a 25-year prison term and an order to forfeit over $11 billion. Despite maintaining his innocence, Bankman-Fried was convicted on all counts, marking the conclusion of a legal saga that is ripe for a future Hollywood documentary.

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