Bitcoin hovered near $50,000 on February 25 amid what one analyst suspects are fresh buy-ins from institutional investors.
Data from price trackers including CoinMarketCap and TradingView showed ranging behavior take over on BTC/USD markets on Wednesday and Thursday, keeping the pair above $45,000.
Institutions “still buying at $48,000”
Bitcoin has consolidated in the upper echelons of the $40-50,000 zone since hitting local lows on Monday, part of a comedown from all-time highs which at one point totalled 20%.
As skeptics called time on both the bull run and Bitcoin’s popularity in classic fashion, data revealed that demand was more present than ever.
With the price dip bought up at $45,000 and above, Ki Young Ju, CEO of on-chain analytics resource CryptoQuant, noted that even current levels of $48,000 were attracting buyers.
“13k $BTC flowed out from Coinbase a few hours ago. It seems those BTC went to multiple Coinbase custody wallets. US institutional investors are still buying Bitcoin at the 48k price,” he tweeted alongside charts on Thursday.
“This is the strongest bullish signal I’ve ever seen.”
The last major spike in outflows from Coinbase occurred in early February, when Bitcoin traded around $10,000 lower, making this week’s figures the biggest proof yet that investors consider current spot prices a worthy entry point.
Such behavior contrasts with comments from the likes of Elon Musk, whose assertion that Bitcoin prices “seem high” last week gained considerable publicity in mainstream media.
Coinbase was nonetheless in good company, with notorious corporate heavyweight MicroStrategy likewise adding to its BTC hoard this week. As confirmed by the company, total holdings now stand at 90,531 BTC, purchased for an average price of $23,985 per coin.
The firm joined Twitter sister company Square, which more than trebled its existing $50 million initial purchase with the addition of 3,318 BTC for $170 million.
“Square has 5% of their balance sheet in bitcoin. Tesla has 8% of their balance sheet in bitcoin. Microstrategy has 95%+ of their balance sheet in bitcoin,” Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano summarized after the news.
“Who is next?”
Traders: Limited upside potential in coming days
For the short term, however, the outlook on Thursday remained lackluster for traders. In fresh analysis, popular trader Michaël van de Poppe warned that $45,000 may not have been the floor that bulls were looking for.
“#Bitcoin doesn’t look too great for a bull continuation coming period. Still, retest at $54,000-55,000 could happen, but I’m cautious when we get there,” he told Twitter followers.
“If we lose $47,000, then I’m looking at $42,000-44,000 and $37,000-38,500 next. That should be the low.”
Previous estimates had the bull run topping out at $63,000 before a natural correction took hold.
“I think the better long for BTC is above 50.8k. A good amount of negative delta pocketed around that area,” fellow trader Cantering Clark added on the day.
“Break above, force some covering and offer a move up to 52k initially. 55k if no rejection at 52k.”
