Bitcoin Price Stuck Below $90K As ETF Outflows And Market Shorts Intensify

Key Insights:

• BTC open interest jumps $3.2B in 24h, while 59.79% bet short high leverage meets bearish sentiment. Can Bitcoin price rise?
• MicroStrategy now holds 538,200 BTC worth $46.83B up $10.36B from avg buy of $67.7K.
• 40 days of ETF outflows and Pluto gate at $90K critical resistance. Breakout or repeat cycle stall?

As market signals pointed to growing uncertainty, Bitcoin price remained stuck below the $90,000 mark.

With 59.79% of traders shorting BTC, ETF outflows extending into a 40th day, and leverage spiking by $3.2 Billion in just 24 hours, the market faced mounting pressure.

Key resistance levels and institutional moves added to the critical turning point for Bitcoin.

Leverage Jumped to $30.5B Amid Bearish Trader Positioning

Bitcoin open interest increased from $27.2 Billion to $30.5 Billion throughout April 14-21, demonstrating rising market leverage.

The price gradually increased to $85,000 while open interest demonstrated rising speculative action that predicted volatile price movements.

Binance data indicated that on April 21, traders maintained 59.79% short positions while the long/short ratio balanced at 0.67.

Market traders displayed a negative sentiment during this period despite record increases in open interest levels.

Strong leverage factors combined with extensive short-selling positions may cause quick market movements.

Short-squeeze situations could occur when prices increase unexpectedly, forcing short traders to buy back their positions while prices rise further.

ETF Outflows Continued for 40 Days, Pressuring Price Momentum

Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded 40 straight days of net outflows. The total value of product outflows reached $812.3 million at the April 19 market valuation.

IBIT, managed by BlackRock, lost $393.2 million out of the $812.3 Million withdrawn from cryptocurrency products. The grayscale GBTC product experienced $256.4 Million in losses during the same period.

The withdrawal movement from Fidelity’s FBTC and Bitwise’s BITB product resulted in investors taking out $64.5 Million and $42.3 Million, respectively.

Only the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust added funds, with $36.7 Million in inflows.

On April 8, Bitcoin ETFs experienced their highest single-day outflow of the month.

On that day, $326.3 Million was withdrawn, following news of a 104% tariff on Chinese imports introduced by President Trump.

These outflows added pressure to Bitcoin’s inability to break the $90,000 resistance level.

MicroStrategy Added 6,556 BTC, Held Over Half a Million Coins

MicroStrategy, now known as Strategy, added 6,556 BTC between April 14 and 20. The company spent $555.8 million at an average price of $84,785 per Bitcoin.

This purchase raised its total Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 BTC. The value of these holdings reached approximately $46.83 billion, resulting in an unrealised profit of $10.36 Billion.

The company acquired these coins through multiple purchases, with a total investment of $36.47 Billion.

The average acquisition cost stood at $67,766 per BTC. This made MicroStrategy the largest public holder of Bitcoin.

The company also had plans to raise over $20 Billion to continue accumulating Bitcoin.

Despite the ongoing ETF outflows and Bitcoin’s price consolidation, MicroStrategy remained active in purchasing BTC during uncertain market conditions.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Resistance Near $90K Aligned with Historical Reversal Zones

Bitcoin encountered multiple price rejections within the $88,000 to $90,000 area. According to geometric analysis, this region marked numerous crucial historical turning events when observing the hourly chart.

Bitcoin Price confluence, along with cycle-based time points, created situations which had historically caused price reversals.

The exchange rate of Bitcoin hovered around $88,131 while checking the established resistance area between $87,331 and $87,571 on April 21.

The price tested an essential resistance area that matched historical rejection areas and Gann resistance levels.

The successful break of this area by Bitcoin would lead to upcoming resistance around $92,670.

The failure of Bitcoin to exceed $90k a second time might trigger an established price pattern from previous cycles that leads to downward movement.