Bitcoin Continues to Struggle: Whales Accumulate, Stocks Hit New Highs, But Prices Stagnant
Although the US stock market is celebrating new records and large institutions and crypto whales are stepping up their accumulation of Bitcoin, the number one cryptocurrency has yet to make a clear breakthrough. This is a remarkable paradox between the widespread bullish sentiment in traditional markets and the puzzling lull in the crypto market.
Wall Street Soars, Bitcoin Calms
At the end of the trading session last week, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq simultaneously set all-time highs. The Dow Jones also continued to increase in the first session of the week, jumping nearly 200 points, reinforcing the excitement of investors in the traditional financial market.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin hoarding companies such as MicroStrategy and Metaplanet are not out of the game. They continue to make large purchases, adding hundreds of millions of dollars worth of BTC to their treasury, demonstrating growing confidence in the digital asset as a strategic asset class.
However, despite institutional buying and positive sentiment from other financial markets, Bitcoin continues to fluctuate in a narrow range. Over the past 24 hours, BTC's price has fluctuated between $106,759 and $108,798, and is currently trading at around $107,140, down 0.65% on the day, although it still maintains a gain of more than 5% over the past week.
US politics fuels financial markets
A notable factor is a series of positive developments from the Trump administration that have helped push the US stock market up. Specifically, Trump won a diplomatic victory by forcing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to withdraw the 3% digital services tax imposed on US technology companies. This is seen as a move to ease US-Canada trade tensions and pave the way for new negotiations.
Not stopping there, the Trump administration's large-scale fiscal bill is also moving quickly towards the passage stage in the Senate, with the hope of being signed into law before Independence Day on July 4. These consecutive political victories have contributed to creating positive sentiment among Wall Street investors, but Bitcoin still does not seem to benefit commensurately.
Market data: Not enough momentum
Bitcoin's 24-hour trading volume reached $39.8 billion, up more than 25%, but largely due to normal fluctuations after the weekend. Meanwhile, the market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency market reached $2.12 trillion, up slightly by 0.74%. Notably, Bitcoin's dominance in the total market capitalization also increased to 65.41%.
However, the open interest index in the futures market decreased by 2.17% to 71.92 billion USD, a sign that speculators are being more cautious, reducing the level of leverage.
In addition, data from Coinglass recorded a total of 47.19 million USD in liquidations within 24 hours, with the majority being short positions wiped out worth more than 35 million USD, compared to only 11.4 million USD on the buying side. This shows that the market sentiment is still somewhat optimistic, but not enough to trigger a strong price increase.
Why is Bitcoin still "stuck"?
Despite positive macro factors, Bitcoin has yet to break out, and analysts point to several reasons:
Lack of a strong catalyst: There has been no breakout event such as a new Bitcoin spot ETF, or a wave of FOMO from retail investors to push the price above strong resistance levels.
Post-halving defensive sentiment: After the halving event in April, miners and long-term investors are reassessing the economic performance. Selling pressure to maintain operations remains, although it has decreased.
Monetary policy uncertainty: Although US inflation is cooling, investors remain cautious ahead of the next decision from the Federal Reserve, which will affect market liquidity.
Short-term outlook: Will there be a boom or continue to move sideways?
Bitcoin’s holding above support around $105,000 while technical indicators are not oversold suggests that the market is still consolidating and not in a downtrend. However, to break out, the market needs a decisive push from institutional money, a favorable regulatory decision, or a surprise event.
With stocks continuing to soar and institutions quietly buying, patience may be key. If history repeats itself, the current “quiet accumulation” phase could be a stepping stone to the next bull run. But until then, Bitcoin remains stuck in neutral, quietly observing the bustling financial world around it.