Bitcoin Slips Below $66K As Absent Spot Demand Benefits Bears

Bitcoin (BTC) has now retraced for three straight days, slipping below $66,000 during the New York session on Wednesday. The decline came after a failed push above $70,000, as weak buying interest allowed sellers to maintain control.

Onchain data suggest that the pullback appears driven by spot-led selling on Binance, while the lack of a Coinbase premium during the US market session signals muted participation from US investors.

Key takeaways:

• The Coinbase premium index signals muted US investor participation at current price levels.

• Cumulative volume delta (CVD) continues to trend lower, reflecting a persistent net selling pressure.

• Data shows that the 30-day new money flow has flipped negative to about –$2.8 billion.

Coinbase premium and futures data show bears remain dominant

The Coinbase premium index measures the difference between BTC prices on Coinbase and other exchanges like Binance. A positive premium reflects strong US spot demand.

The indicator continued to exhibit a negative premium this week, suggesting limited engagement from US investors. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s cumulative volume delta (CVD) has extended to –$5.7 billion on Binance. The steady series of lower highs in CVD indicates continued market selling pressure rather than accumulation.

Given Binance’s dominant market volumes, the negative delta suggests that spot-driven sell orders may be leading the move lower.

The bid–ask ratio remained negative, showing that sell orders consistently outweighed bids during the recovery attempts. Although the ratio has turned slightly positive (around 0.14), it looks more like a short-term reaction than real spot buying support.

Aggregated open interest has also trended downward, slipping to $17.6 billion from $20 billion on Monday. This suggests that leverage is gradually being unwound, with longs closing positions instead of building fresh exposure. 

Related: Spot Bitcoin ETFs add $167M, nearly erase last week’s outflows

CryptoQuant data further reinforces the lack of spot demand below $70,000. The 30-day cumulative new money flow has turned negative, near -$2.8 billion, while recent daily readings remain subdued around -$239 million. 

Unlike prior uptrends where price pullbacks attracted strong capital inflows, current price drops are failing to generate meaningful inflows.

The “young supply” share (0–1 month), which tracks recently moved coins, has also cooled toward the lower end of its recent range near 13%, reflecting reduced speculative participation from traders. 

Strong rallies are usually accompanied by rising young supply, increasing capital inflows and rising open interest, all of which are currently absent.

Related: Rare Bitcoin signal flashes: Will a 220% BTC price rally follow?