On May 4, Bitcoin surged to $64,500, reaching new local highs of $64,522 on Bitstamp during out-of-hours trading. This marked a notable recovery for the cryptocurrency, hitting its peak for the month of May.
Data from TradingView confirmed this spike, driven by positive U.S. employment data and signs of recovery in the crypto market, notably the first cash inflows into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) in almost three months. Currently, Bitcoin’s price is up 5% for the month, a stark contrast to the 15% drop experienced in April, according to CoinGlass.
Popular trader Daan Crypto Trades shared his views on Twitter, stating, “Had a great push into the market close yesterday,” and adding, “I like how the charts are on the higher timeframes, but I’ll be patient and won’t start buying just because it’s green this weekend. We’ll see how it goes.”
This weekend’s market exhibited some unexpected movements, particularly a noticeable difference between Bitcoin prices on spot markets and the closing prices of Bitcoin futures by CME Group, revealing a “gap” that tends to close later.
However, some market watchers remain skeptical about the strength of the rally, citing the lack of involvement from traditional finance (TradFi). Keith Alan, representing Material Indicators, remarked on the market’s fragility resulting from limited liquidity in the order books. He emphasized the necessity for increased bid liquidity to maintain the current rally, while cautioning that a sell-off could easily be triggered by the thin liquidity present.
Credible Crypto, a prominent figure in the industry, pointed out that the current market conditions could potentially benefit short sellers. He explained in a post that if Bitcoin’s price remains below the key resistance level of $69,000, adopting a short-selling strategy might be advantageous. He supported his statement with a chart illustrating two possible scenarios for Bitcoin’s price movement.
He explained, “The ideal path is we keep the gains we’ve made and push towards major resistance. This allows me to establish short positions for several alternative cryptocurrencies. However, the less favorable scenario is if we experience an early decline in profits, causing me to miss the specific shorting opportunities I’m monitoring.”
Credible Crypto also pointed out that buying opportunities could arise if Bitcoin falls below $56,000, indicating a strategy to capitalize on potential dips.
Continual submissions of 13F filings are revealing institutional interest in Bitcoin ETFs. Institutions managing over $100 million must disclose their quarterly holdings, revealing varied levels of engagement.
For instance, BNY Mellon reported owning nearly 20,000 shares of the IBIT and about 7,000 shares of GBTC. In contrast, BNP Paribas holds around 1,000 shares of IBIT, indicating a more cautious stance.
Smaller firms are taking more aggressive positions. Quattro Advisors, headquartered in Pittsburgh, holds 468,200 shares of BlackRock’s ETF, whereas Legacy Wealth Management has disclosed ownership of more than 350,000 shares of Fidelity’s ETF. Yong Rong is a significant stakeholder, holding over a million shares of BlackRock’s ETF, making it a major part of their portfolio.
Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas highlighted that Yong Rong is among several Hong Kong asset managers heavily investing in Bitcoin ETFs, including Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, and IBIT.
