🐋 On-Chain Flows:

Bitcoin’s slide below $65,000 this week has sent shockwaves well beyond crypto markets, knocking mining stocks lower and piling onto pressure in Asian equities already reeling from a global tech sell-off. Price action and sentiment - The world's largest cryptocurrency briefly dipped to just above $60,000 — its weakest level in roughly 15 months — before mounting a modest rebound. Even with that recovery, market sentiment remains fragile as investors reassess risk amid uncertain macro conditions. - Bitcoin is now down roughly half from its October peak. On-chain flows: whales trim, retail steps in - On-chain analytics from Santiment show a notable shift in ownership during the sell-off. Large holders — defined as wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC (whales and sharks) — cut their share of circulating supply to about 68.04%, a nine-month low. - Those large wallets sold roughly 81,000 BTC over the past eight days, a period that coincided with Bitcoin’s slide from near $90,000 to the mid-$60,000 range. - At the same time, smaller holders have been accumulating: wallets with less than 0.1 BTC reached a 20-month high in their share of supply, indicating retail buyers are stepping in as prices fall. - Historically, similar dynamics — large holders selling into retail demand — have often been associated with extended bear phases. Risk indicators and equity fallout - The Crypto Fear & Greed Index plunged to 9/100, its lowest reading since mid-2022. - The pressure on BTC quickly spilled into crypto-linked equities. Shares of major miners and Bitcoin proxies including Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, Hut 8 and Strategy Inc. posted double-digit drops, with several hitting new 52-week lows. - Strategy Inc., one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders, reported a sharply wider quarterly loss as falling prices knocked the value of its holdings, heightening concerns about balance-sheet risk if weak prices persist. - Analysts say the miner sell-off has been driven more by macro forces than company-specific news: miners act as high-beta plays on Bitcoin and therefore amplify broader market moves. Broader markets and drivers - Bitcoin’s decline also weighed on Asian bourses, which were already tracking losses on Wall Street led by technology stocks. Benchmarks in South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia fell, while Japan’s Nikkei managed modest gains after earlier declines. - Market participants pointed to a broader risk-off mood tied to U.S. monetary policy worries — notably President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair, a pick perceived by some as less likely to support easy liquidity. Outlook - With large holders continuing to pare positions and financial conditions tightening, volatility looks set to persist across crypto assets, mining stocks and global markets. Short-term rebounds are possible, but investor caution is likely to remain the dominant theme. Cover image: ChatGPT; BTCUSD chart: TradingView. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news