Bitcoin Surges 1.6% Weekly Amid Institutional Accumulation

Bitcoin's latest price was $, in the last 24 hours. The recent price action of Bitcoin has been influenced by several key factors, including on-chain analysis, market sentiment, and external economic events. On-chain analysis revealed that Bitcoin's price needed to reclaim $114,000 to attract fresh institutional liquidity and break free from its established consolidation range. This level is crucial as it represents the cost basis of recent top buyers, whose return to profitability could trigger renewed buying momentum. However, a breakdown below $108,300 could tip short-term holders back into losses, potentially triggering renewed selling pressure toward the next major supply cluster at $93,000.

The bounce from $108,000 at the start of September demonstrated clear buy pressure on-chain through a "buy-the-dip" structure that helped stabilize the market. However, sustained movement above $114,000 is necessary to restore confidence and encourage new institutional inflows. The report by Glassnode noted that market momentum steadily faded following the mid-August all-time high, pulling BTC price below recent top-buyers’ cost basis and back into the $110,000-$116,000 “air gap” zone. This range has become a critical zone for Bitcoin price, where derivatives activity helps absorb selling pressure, but fundamental spot demand needs to strengthen significantly.

Profit-taking from seasoned holders and loss realization by recent buyers have limited upward momentum. The three-to-six-month cohort realized approximately $189 million per day in profits, accounting for roughly 79% of all short-term holder profit-taking. This suggests that investors who purchased during the February-May dips used the recent bounce to exit profitably, creating notable resistance. Simultaneously, recent top Bitcoin buyers weighed on the market by realizing losses during the same rebound period. The up-to-three-month cohort realized losses reaching $152 million daily, mirroring earlier stress periods from April 2024 and January 2025 when peak-buyers capitulated similarly.

Beyond on-chain dynamics, external demand through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) showed concerning deterioration. US spot Bitcoin ETF net flows dropped sharply since early August, hovering near 500 BTC daily compared to the inflow intensity that supported earlier rallies. The waning ETF flows represented a significant reduction from the institutional buying that characterized the cycle’s earlier phases. Given ETFs’ pivotal role in fueling previous upside moves, their slowdown added fragility to the current market structure and reduced available liquidity absorption capacity. Net Realized Profit as a share of market cap provided insight into liquidity strength. The 90-day simple moving average peaked at 0.065% during August rallies before trending lower. While weaker than peak levels, current readings remained elevated, suggesting that inflows continued providing support as long as the Bitcoin price held above $108,000.

With on-chain liquidity softening and Bitcoin ETF demand fading, derivatives markets assumed greater importance in price formation. Volume Delta Bias measurements showed Bitcoin price recovery during the rebound from $108,000, signaling seller exhaustion across major venues. Futures positioning appeared balanced rather than overheated. Three-month annualized futures basis remained below 10% despite higher prices, reflecting steady leverage demand without extremes that typically preceded liquidation cascades. Perpetual futures volume remained muted, consistent with post-euphoric conditions. Options markets demonstrated record open interest levels, reflecting growing institutional importance. Many institutions preferred options for risk management through protective puts, covered calls, or defined-risk structures rather than direct spot exposure through ETFs.

The business week was marked by important macroeconomic events, including the much-anticipated CPI data for August, which could set the tone for the Fed’s next big move. At the time, the asset, perhaps living up to the bearish September projections, failed to maintain above $112,000 and tested the $110,000 support on a couple of occasions on Saturday and Sunday. The bulls ultimately managed to defend that level and went on the offensive as the week progressed. At first, BTC climbed to $111,500 on Monday and beyond $113,000 on Tuesday, but it faced immediate rejections, the second of which pushed it south below $111,000 once again. However, bitcoin bounced off once again and jumped to $114,000 on Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of the CPI announcements from the United States. Once that data came out, and it became known that reality and expectations met in an almost perfect match, BTC reacted with instant volatility that drove it up and down by a grand in each direction. Overall, though, the stats were regarded as bullish since the US Federal Reserve is expected to lower the key interest rates next week. Consequently, bitcoin jumped once again and surged to a multi-week peak of $116,400 earlier this morning. It has lost some momentum since then and sits around $115,000 as of press time, which means that it has gained over 1.6% on a weekly scale.

Bitcoin miners have adjusted their strategy for dealing with the asset, opting to hold larger portions of their newly mined units instead of selling them during price rallies. CryptoQuant data indicates that BTC miners have been accumulating instead of selling this cycle. Data from GlassNode shows miners’ wallets added positions for the third straight week, with net inflows peaking at 573 BTC per day on Tuesday—the highest level since late October 2023. That strong accumulation last year preceded a 48% surge by early December, prompting traders to ask whether a run toward $150,000 could unfold again. Optimism also stems from robust inflows into Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and continued corporate purchases from companies including Strategy (MSTR), Metaplanet (MTPLF) and Cango Inc. (CANG). BitcoinTreasuries.NET data shows reserves held by the top-100 public companies surpassed 1 million BTC for the first time ever in September. Despite missing potential inclusion in the S&P 500 index, Michael Saylor’s Strategy disclosed an additional $220 million Bitcoin purchase in a United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. The firm’s $95 billion market capitalization now places it among the 115 largest listed companies in the US, ahead of Moody’s Corp, General Dynamics and Dell Technologies. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs added $1.3 billion in inflows between Wednesday and Thursday, pushing total assets under management to $148 billion. iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) remains the clear leader with $87.5 billion, followed by Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) at $23 billion and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) at $20.6 billion. For context, gold ETFs are the largest tradable asset class and hold $431 billion, while the broader gold market is valued at $24.7 trillion.

El Salvador celebrated four years of Bitcoin legal tender with a 21 BTC purchase despite the IMF restrictions. It has been four years since the Nayib Bukele-led small nation made history by becoming the first country to legalize Bitcoin officially. El Salvador celebrated the occasion with a 21 BTC purchase despite the IMF restrictions. A popular analyst warned retail investors that whales might have artificially engineered rallies for some altcoins ahead of the highly anticipated FOMC meeting next week, only to dump their holdings after its conclusion. The Market Value to Realized Value metric dipped below its 365-day simple moving average, which raised certain questions about the state of the current bull market. A new report indicated that BTC has evolved into a “staircase-like” bull cycle instead of a parabolic asset.