The price of Bitcoin has been under significant downward pressure over the past week, and the falling spot demand might be one of the factors behind the downturn, according to a CryptoQuant head of research.
Bitcoin Apparent Demand Falls To -40K BTC
In a May 22nd post on the X platform, CryptoQuant’s Head of Research, Julio Moreno, revealed that Bitcoin spot demand has been declining over the past few weeks. This on-chain observation comes as the premier cryptocurrency appears to be struggling under significant bearish pressure.
The relevant indicator here is the Apparent Demand metric, which tracks demand by comparing newly mined BTC to the amount of unmoved coin over a period. The on-chain metric provides insight into investor appetite and can be used to decipher different market phases, especially in the long term.
Using this metric as an anchor, Moreno revealed that the Bitcoin spot demand is falling at the fastest pace since January 10th. When the Apparent Demand indicator contracted in early January, the Bitcoin price dipped to around the $90,000 mark before rebounding to $98,000 (alongside the demand).
However, the Apparent Demand was in a massive downturn for most of the first quarter before turning around in early April. Accompanied by a commensurate rise in the price of Bitcoin, the coin’s demand in the spot market improved for most of the previous month.
Source: @jjcmoreno on X
As observed in the chart above, the on-chain metric has declined to its lowest level since early January. CryptoQuant data show that the 30-day sum of Apparent Demand is around -40,000 BTC.
While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the recent downturn in BTC spot demand, the poor performance of US-based exchange-traded funds might be a good place to start. Nevertheless, when questioned about the contribution of the spot Bitcoin ETFs to this trend, Moreno answered that the exchange-traded funds account for only a small fraction of BTC’s demand growth.
Coinbase Premium Falls To Lowest Level Since February
At the same time, the Coinbase Premium Gap, which offers insight into institutional investor appetite in the US, also supports the thesis of waning demand in the Bitcoin spot market. According to CryptoQuant data highlighted by Maartunn, Coinbase, the US’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is witnessing its most significant selling pressure since February.
This evident decline in demand has coincided with the latest dip in Bitcoin’s price. Hence, it goes without saying that investor appetite in the spot market needs to improve for the premier cryptocurrency to recover in price. As of this writing, the price of BTC sits around $75,600, reflecting a 2.5% slump in the past day.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
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