Bitcoin dipped just under $60K Thursday, rattling investors already spooked by the recent market upheavals. But don’t panic just yet, folks. The crypto giant, hanging at $61K now, managed to stabilize after two consecutive days of outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. CoinGecko data confirmed Bitcoin’s flat performance on the day, down 4.5% over the week. That’s no small dip, and market watchers are getting twitchy.
Standard Chartered, in a spicy note to Decrypt, doesn’t believe Bitcoin can act as a safe haven amid the current Middle Eastern turbulence. The firm suggests stacking sats when BTC dips under $60K—so buyers might wanna keep their dry powder ready. Geoff Kendrick, the Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, played it cool, saying, “It’s not a geopolitical hedge, but when TradFi shakes—think bank collapses, de-dollarisation—you’ll see BTC shine.”
Kendrick was upfront about risk, though. He warned of potential BTC slippage below $60K before the weekend, thanks to the ongoing tension in Israel. But here’s where things get spicy: He spotted a possible upside. A surge in Bitcoin options activity, alongside U.S. election “circularity,” might help buoy prices. That circularity, by the way, ties in with Trump’s re-election chances, which could add a weird twist to the market. “BTC options are wild right now,” Kendrick said, pointing to a notable uptick in open interest for December calls at 80K. Those beefy positions suggest some traders are betting on a price pop.
While the BTC ETFs saw $91.7M in net outflows—ouch—there’s a flicker of hope in Fidelity’s FBTC, which pulled in a $21M net inflow. Meanwhile, Grayscale and ARKB bled cash, losing $27.3M and $60.2M, respectively. Ethereum spot ETFs fared a little better, with $14.4M in net inflows, with BlackRock raking in $18M.
Alex Kuptsikevich, a senior analyst at FxPro, summed up the current BTC stagnation. He pointed at the rising dollar and plunging risk assets, mainly driven by the Middle East conflict. “Bitcoin’s bouncing around $60-63.6K, and it’s likely noise before the market catches its breath,” Kuptsikevich told Decrypt.
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