Bitcoin’s ‘V-Shape Recovery’ Is Being Led By Spot Buyers As Leveraged Traders And ETF Investors Hold Back

CoinGlass recorded $145.84 million in Bitcoin-position liquidations over the 12 hours to Tuesday, with long positions accounting for 68.3% of the total.

  • Bitcoin rebounded from a dip near $81,000 to an intraday high of $84,000, with analyst Ted Pillows attributing the move to robust spot demand.
  • Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $681.10 million in net outflows last week and another $65.40 million on Monday, according to SoSoValue.
  • South Korea’s KOSPI fell on Tuesday, triggering a five-minute halt on program sell orders and raising fears of potential contagion into crypto markets.

Bitcoin (BTC) recovered to around $84,000 on Tuesday, but the bounce came without the crowd that usually fuels one. Spot buyers led the move, while leveraged traders and Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) investors stayed away.

The apex cryptocurrency dipped to near $81,000 on Monday before moving higher. Bitcoin’s price was up 0.1% over the past 24 hours, trading around $83,400. 

Bitcoin Recovers As Spot Buyers Step In 

Analyst Ted Pillows said the rebound came with real buying behind it. “V-shaped recovery in $BTC with strong spot demand. Looks good,” he wrote on X. Spot demand meant that investors were buying Bitcoin outright, rather than betting on its price with borrowed money in futures markets. 

Source: @TedPillows/x
Source: @TedPillows/x

Pillows’ chart showed aggregated spot cumulative volume delta (CVD) rising as the price recovered. CVD tracked whether buyers or sellers were more aggressive, so a rising line meant buyers were in control.

BTC’s intraday high stood at $84,000. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BTC remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter stayed at ‘low’ levels over the past day.

What Is Impacting Bitcoin Today: SK Hynix Futures Lose $6.29M

The rebound held even as South Korean stocks sold off. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell as much as 6.08% to below 6,000 on Tuesday, led by chipmakers SK Hynix (SKHY) and Samsung Electronics. The drop triggered a five-minute pause on program sell orders. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said that the sell-off could spill over into crypto, with margin liquidations at brokerages possibly forcing Korean investors to sell other assets.

The pain was also felt in a contract tracking SK Hynix. Binance and rival venues offer perpetual futures linked to the chipmaker’s share price, allowing traders outside South Korea to bet on the stock with leverage and no expiry date. According to CoinGlass data, that position lost $6.29 million in 24 hours, with 98.22% of the loss coming from longs, with Binance exchange accounting for over 71% of the loss.

BTC Liquidation Shows Leverage Stays Low

Bitcoin led the damage across crypto derivatives. Data from CoinGlass showed traders lost $145.84 million on liquidated Bitcoin positions over the 12 hours to Tuesday. Liquidation is when an exchange force-closes a leveraged bet because the trader doesn’t have enough collateral to keep it open. Of the total Bitcoin, 68.3% were long positions, or bets on a rising price.

ETF Investors Remain Wary

ETF investors have also held back. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of $681.10 million last week, according to SoSoValue data, as investors began “selling into the latest dip,” crypto analyst James Check said on his Checkonchain newsletter. Outflows continued on Monday, with $65.40 million leaving and none of the 12 funds recording an inflow.

Read also: ETH Price Faces Fresh Risk As Tom Lee Flags Korea Margin Calls – Warns Of A Potential Crypto Spillover

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