Bitcoin Sets New All-Time High Above $69,000 As Institutionals Show FOMO

Bitcoin has set a new all-time high (ATH) above the $69,000 level as institutional investors have aggressively bought on Coinbase.

Bitcoin Has Set A New ATH Above $69,000

The moment that every Bitcoin investor had been looking forward to has finally arrived today. The cryptocurrency just smashed past the record set in November 2021 to create a brand new ATH beyond the $69,000 level.

Bitcoin All-Time High

This historical moment has come for the asset as institutional investors have been showing some strong buying pressure recently.

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index Spikes To Highest Levels For 2024

As an analyst in a CryptoQuant Quicktake post explained, US institutional investors appear to be scrambling to buy Bitcoin as they are starting to feel FOMO with the sharp bullish momentum the cryptocurrency has enjoyed.

The metric of interest here is the “Coinbase Premium Index,” which keeps track of the percentage difference between the Bitcoin prices listed on cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase (USD pair) and Binance (USDT pair).

The former exchange is the preferred platform for institutional traders based in the US, while the latter serves more global traffic. As such, the Coinbase Premium Index can provide hints about the differences in the buying and selling behaviors of the two groups.

When the indicator has a positive value, the price listed on Coinbase is higher than on Binance. Such a trend implies that the buying pressure is higher (or selling pressure is lower) from the US-based investors compared to Binance users.

On the other hand, the negative metric suggests that American institutional traders may be applying relatively high selling pressure on the market.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index over the past few months:

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index

As displayed in the graph, the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index has registered a large positive spike recently, implying the difference between the prices on Coinbase and Binance has widened.

The indicator had been floating inside the green territory for a while before this spike, and in this period of high buying pressure on Coinbase, the coin observed a sharp rally.

This recent buying pressure would probably include sources like the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) approved this year. From the chart, it’s visible that the buying pressure has been even higher in the last couple of weeks, culminating in the latest spike.

Interest around the asset among these institutional entities had only been growing recently, but the latest spike suggests FOMO has gone up a level for these investors.

Given that institutional buying has been one of the main forces behind the latest rally in the cryptocurrency, it’s no wonder that its price has hit a fresh high off the back of the latest spike.

This Indicator Hints US Investors Sold Bitcoin Harder Than Others During Crash

The Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index suggests US investors have been selling more heavily than others during the latest crash in the crypto.

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index Has Turned Deep Red Recently

As pointed out by an analyst in a CryptoQuant post, whales on Coinbase Pro seem to have been behind the latest dump.

The “Coinbase Premium Index” is an indicator that measures the percentage difference between the Bitcoin price listed on Coinbase Pro (USD Pair) and the one listed on Binance (USDT pair).

Coinbase Pro is popularly known to be used by investors based in the US (especially large institutionals), while Binance gets a more global traffic.

Therefore, the price gaps listed on these two crypto exchanges can hint at which investors are selling or buying more.

When the metric has a positive value, it means the value of BTC on Coinbase is higher than on Binance right now, suggesting that US investors have provided more buying pressure recently.

On the other hand, negative values of the premium suggest American holders are dumping more than global investors at the moment.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index over the past year:

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index

The value of the metric seems to have been red in recent days | Source: CryptoQuant

As you can see in the above graph, the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index has plunged into negative values recently along with the crash.

This means that US investors have been dumping more aggressively than investors from the rest of the world in the past week.

Also, as is clearly visible in the chart, a similar trend was also seen back in early May, when BTC’s price crashed from $40k to $30k.

The quant notes that while Coinbase observed this selling, the Bitcoin Korea Premium Index showed an interesting behavior. The below chart highlights this trend.

Bitcoin Korea Premium Index

Looks like this metric had a green value recently | Source: CryptoQuant

The Korea Premium Index measures the gap between the prices listed on South Korean crypto exchanges, and that on other exchanges.

From the graph, it’s apparent that during both the current crash as well as the one in May, the indicator showed positive spikes.

This implies that while the US investors were dumping, the Korean investors were focusing on “buying the dip.”

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s price floats around $16.8k, down 15% in the last week. Over the past month, the crypto has shed 11% in value.

Bitcoin Price Chart

BTC has been stuck in consolidation under $17k in the last few days | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, charts from TradingView.com, CryptoQuant.com