Binance has recorded a positive net inflow of bitcoin for almost ten consecutive days. This has increased pressure on the market, which is already weak amid geopolitical tensions and declining demand for ETFs.
After last weekend’s sell-off, the crypto market managed only a slight recovery. The total market capitalization is now holding around $2.57 trillion with a daily trading volume of about $60 billion.
Bitcoin managed to regain the level above $77,000 after falling to around $74,000.
More Than 16,000 BTC Deposited to Binance in a Month
According to analyst Darkfost, the average weekly bitcoin inflow to Binance rose from 378 BTC on May 16 to 1,190 BTC by May 25. In less than ten days, the figure more than tripled.
One of the largest spikes occurred on May 18, when more than 3,600 BTC were deposited to Binance in a single day.
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Against this backdrop, bitcoin reserves on the exchange began to grow rapidly. On April 24, Binance held about 616,000 BTC, but by May 25, the figure had already approached 632,000 BTC. In fact, nearly 16,000 BTC were deposited to the exchange in a month.
This kind of dynamic usually raises concerns in the market, as large bitcoin transfers to exchanges are often seen as a potential sell signal. During periods of instability, investors often transfer assets to trading platforms to lock in profits or take more defensive positions.
In the past 24 hours, bitcoin has shown a slight increase. The weekly trend is positive again, but since the start of the year BTC is still down about 12%.
At the time of publication, bitcoin was trading around $77,100.
Meanwhile, analysts are starting to worry that the market could lose one of its main support factors.
Just a few weeks ago, bitcoin ETFs had almost fully recovered after the massive sell-off that began back in November. But now the situation is changing again.
According to Sosovalue, over the past week, more than $1.2 billion was withdrawn from bitcoin ETFs. Overall, May is already showing a net outflow of about $1 billion.
Now the market is closely watching whether ETFs can stabilize inflows again. If capital outflows continue next week, pressure on bitcoin could intensify even more.
Are Major Players Buying the Dip?
The Alphractal platform reported that its Whale vs Retail Delta metric recorded the largest positive divergence since November 2024. This signal appeared amid a noticeable increase in accumulation by large holders.
Strategy continues to actively increase its bitcoin positions. In just the past week, the company bought another 24,869 BTC worth about $2 billion.
The average purchase price of bitcoin for Strategy is now around $80,985.
At the same time, an old whale wallet that had been inactive since 2013 became active again. According to analysts, it transferred 500 BTC after about 12 years of no movement.
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Alphractal also notes that wallets with balances over 1,000 BTC have been actively accumulating coins in recent weeks. In two weeks, such addresses added about 47,000 BTC.
Bitcoin holder sentiment has started to shift sharply again. Source: Alphractal/X.
Analysts believe that a noticeable gap is now forming in the market between the caution of retail investors and the actions of major players.
If the macroeconomic situation starts to stabilize, this factor could become especially important for the market. For now, bitcoin remains caught between two opposing signals.
On the one hand, transfers of BTC to exchanges are increasing and outflows from ETFs continue. All this points to defensive behavior by market participants.
On the other hand, whales and long-term holders continue to actively buy the dip. Major players still seem to view the current decline as an opportunity to accumulate bitcoin.
