Bitcoin Eyes $81K Mark While ETF Flows Slow Down

Bitcoin temporarily reached a weekly high of US$81,148 (AU$112,676) in the early hours of trading on Friday, before it fell back down to US$79,812 (AU$110,808) at the time of writing.

As we reported yesterday, analysts said this stretch of the market has a habit of turning rallies back. Swyftx Lead Analyst Pav Hundal noted that the same US$80K–US$83K (AU$111.4K-AU$115.3K) range had already capped Bitcoin’s previous upswing in May, and that this week’s close landed in almost the same spot.

Hundal framed the question in his latest analysis: Could this level turn into another wall for BTC to bump against, or could it instead become the launchpad for the next leg higher?

His take is that the next few days will be telling. If buyers can push through to a fresh weekly high, that would support the bullish case. If they can’t, last week’s rally risks being remembered as a short squeeze that fizzled out rather than the opening move of a bigger trend.

Read more: XRP Up 44% as Korean Bank Taps Ripple for Cross-Border Payments

The options market could offer some clues about where Bitcoin goes next. Trader David Eng said Bitcoin is sitting in a tight range between a key US$80K (AU$111.1K) options level and a major call wall at US$82K (AU$113.9K), effectively putting the price in a compression zone just below resistance.

That pressure could soon begin to ease, however, with 25.7% of gross gamma set to expire the following day. Eng also noted that 30-day calls were trading at a premium to puts, suggesting traders remain positioned with a bullish bias. His view is that if Bitcoin can break cleanly above US$82K, the next major target could be US$85K (AU$118K) and potentially higher.

Bitcoin ETFs Still Pulling in Positive Numbers, Despite Slowdown

Meanwhile US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have slowed after a recent surge in net inflows.

According to the latest data, they pulled in US$242.3 million (AU$336.5 million) in net inflows on Thursday, picking up from the previous day as their inflow run stretched to nine straight trading days.

Thursday’s haul was roughly 4% higher than Wednesday’s US$232.2 million (AU$322.5 million), based on data from Farside.

Over that nine-session run – spanning Aug. 17 through Aug. 27 – the funds have pulled in a combined total of about US$3.04 billion (AU$4.22 billion), with every session in the stretch posting a net inflow.

The biggest day of the current run came on 20 August, last Thursday, when the funds pulled in more than double Wednesday’s figure, with US$606.3 million (AU$842.09 million).

Read more: Americans Reject Crypto in Retirement Plans as 77% Call It Risky