By Scott Matherson 23 May 2024 | 10:00 pm

Bitcoin Price Drop Below $70,000 Apparently Driven By Lack Of Interest, Glassnode Data Shows

On-chain analytics platform Glassnode has provided insights into why the Bitcoin price recently dropped below $70,000. The platform suggested that the flagship isn’t yet seeing enough demand, which could send its price to new highs. 

Demand For Bitcoin Is Still Modest

In one of its latest market reports, Glassnode mentioned that “the rate at which new capital is flowing into the Bitcoin network has slowed down considerably from its peak.” They made this assertion based on the Realized Cap metric, which measures the value of each Bitcoin based on the last time it was traded. Glassnode claimed that Bitcoin’s Realized Cap is currently at $574 billion. 

Bitcoin price

The platform further revealed that the injection of liquidity into Bitcoin has cooled off since the flagship crypto hit an all-time high (ATH) of $73,750. This is in stark contrast to the period before Bitcoin hit that ATH, with Glassnode noting that the flows into Bitcoin back then were “extremely sharp, culminating at a value of $3.38 billion daily.”

Meanwhile, Glassnode stated that the Realized Cap “remains in positive profit-dominated territory and is returning towards an equilibrium position.” However, they noted that Bitcoin’s modest demand was still able to spark this recent rally thanks to the “declining sell-side headwinds from mature investors.”

Basically, Glassnode suggested that things were looking up for Bitcoin but that it could be way better if there were more capital inflows. There could indeed be an increase in capital inflows soon enough, considering that the Spot Bitcoin ETFs have broken their streak of net outflows and are once again recording impressive net inflows into their funds. 

Data from Farside Investors shows that these funds have already seen almost $700 million in net inflows this week. Specifically, these Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of $305.7 million on May 21 alone. That day was also BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) most profitable day yet, with the fund taking in $290 million. 

Some Positive Key Takeaways

Glassnode also assessed some other vital on-chain metrics, which provided some positives for Bitcoin’s future trajectory. The platform noted that there has been a “large decline” in Bitcoin’s Sell-Side Risk Ratio, which “suggests the market has found a degree of equilibrium over the course of this correction.”

Bitcoin price 2

To assess market volatility, they also measured the percent range between the highest and lowest price ticks over the last 60 days. They concluded that “volatility continues to compress to levels typically seen after lengthy consolidations and prior to large market moves.”

Meanwhile, Glasnode revealed that 2.14M BTC out of the Short-term holder (STH) supply, currently at 3.36M BTC, fell into an unrealized loss following the recent market correction. They claim that this suggests that many of the BTC held by this category of investors are held at an unrealized loss, which reduces the risk of top-heaviness developing.

Bitcoin price chart from Tradingview.com