Bitcoin, Ethereum Drift Lower As Crypto Market Remains Tepid – ETF Outflows Signal Pause In Institutional Demand

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) traded lower in early morning trade on Wednesday, continuing a subdued recovery after Monday’s market drop.

Bitcoin’s price was trading at around $112,744, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits falling to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s price slipped back below $4,200, with retail sentiment also dropping to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral.’

On-chain analytics firm Glassnode reported that U.S. spot bitcoin ETF flows have turned mildly negative after strong September inflows, signaling a pause in institutional demand even as overall accumulation remains intact. CoinGlass data showed Ethereum spot ETFs bled over $216 million in the last two days, while Bitcoin spot ETFs saw outflows of around $466 million. 

Solana (SOL) was the worst hit among major altcoins. Solana’s price dropped 2.8% in the last 24 hours, exhibiting a similar trend in retail sentiment depreciation over the past day to that of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Cardano’s (ADA) price fell 0.8%.

While Dogecoin (DOGE) and XRP (XRP) were in the green, edging 0.2% higher in the last 24 hours, Binance’s BNB token (BNB) outperformed with gains of more than 2.3%. Retail sentiment around BNB’s coin trended in ‘extremely bullish’ territory, with chatter at ‘high’ levels. 

The surge in BNB’s token came alongside a 37% rally in Aster (ASTER) after Trust Wallet announced it would launch perpetual contracts, supporting over 100 markets on the BNB-based decentralized exchange.

While movement among major tokens in the cryptocurrency market was tepid, digital asset treasury (DAT) equities gained in pre-market trade. The largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, Michael Saylor-backed Strategy (MSTR), rose around 1.3% and the largest publicly traded company with Ethereum on its balance sheet, Bitmine Immersive Technologies (BMNR), was up around 1%. 

Bitcoin miners like Marathon Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) were also in the green. MARA’s stock gained as much as 1.6%, while RIOT’s stock jumped 3.5%  higher. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) rose around 1%.

Retail traders will be eyeing key economic data this week, including the third estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter (Q2) on Thursday, and the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index on Friday.

Read also: Dow Futures Edge Lower As Investors Brace For Key Economic Data Releases This Week: BABA, MU, LAC, GM Among Stocks To Watch

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