Bitcoin price rises, but traders exit positions However, despite the positive shift in capital flows, last week’s figure represents the lowest weekly net flow recorded since the beginning of 2025.
Last week, between April 14 and 17, institutional investors added their capital to Bitcoin spot ETFs, bringing net inflows into these products to $15.85 million.
Despite this positive movement, this latest influx of funds represents the smallest net influx of bitcoin ETFs since the beginning of the year, confirming the slowdown in uptrends.
The slowdown comes amid escalating global trade tensions, which have introduced new uncertainty into financial markets. As major economies tighten their trade policies and retaliation increases, institutional investors have become more cautious, prompting them to adopt a wait-and-see approach, while redistributing their capital.
Bitcoin is trading at $87.64 at the time of publication, after its value rose 3% over the past 24 hours. However, the average open interest on currency futures fell by 2%. The open interest rate of an asset refers to the total number of existing futures or options contracts that have not yet settled or closed. When this rate falls during a price rally, it indicates that traders are closing their positions instead of opening new positions, indicating a lack of firm conviction that the price is rising sustainably.
This sentiment extends to the currency options market, as evidenced by today’s high demand for short contracts.
When the number of short contracts is greater than long contracts, this indicates a downtrend in the market, as traders prepare their positions in anticipation of a possible decline or seek protection against falling prices.
While this, combined with Bitcoin’s low open interest rate, suggests that the market is still moving cautiously amid broader uncertainty, the currency’s positive funding rate provides some relief.
Bitcoin-led Cryptocurrency Mass Rise
Bitcoin maintained its bullish momentum on Sunday, surpassing $87,400, cementing its dominance in the cryptocurrency market. This latest rise brings Bitcoin’s market capitalization to more than $1.73 trillion, driven by continued investor confidence and increased transaction volumes.
Ethereum followed by a wide margin, recording a 3.30% rise in 24 hours, trading at $1,645. The network witnessed a slight increase in its activity during the past week, contributing to its weekly increase of 1.59%.
Tether settled at $1.00, as expected. It recorded slight volatility, reflecting its usual role in facilitating liquidity in cryptocurrency markets without contributing to direct price movements.
Ripple (XRP) rose to $2.13, up 3.16% in the past 24 hours and a weekly growth of 0.84%. Ripple’s performance comes as investors continue to monitor developments related to regulatory clarity and market integration.
BNB, the original token of the Binance platform, rose 2.06% over the past day to $604.69. Over the past week, BNB recorded a significant increase of 2.70%, supported by continuous trading activity and extensive network interaction.
Growing weekly momentum for the most important cryptocurrencies as their market value rises
At the trading level, market sentiment has remained largely positive, as increased trading activity has reflected renewed interest from investors. Bitcoin has seen a trading volume of over $25.5 billion over the past 24 hours, indicating strong buying pressure and continued liquidity.
Ethereum maintained its uptrend in price with transactions worth $11.1 billion in one day. During this period, XRP market capitalization reached $124.4 billion with a trading volume of $2.3 billion. BNB demonstrated market vitality with a daily trading volume of $1.4 billion.
Trump-Powell dispute fuels the rise of Bitcoin and markets
The cryptocurrency market appears to be seeing a strong return to optimism, with the fate of US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell uncertain. With US President Donald Trump hinting at Powell’s possible removal from office, Bitcoin gained positive momentum and reached over $87,500 per share.
Over the past twenty-four hours, Bitcoin has jumped more than 3%, breaking a week-long recession, according to Kongeko data. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Ripple, followed Bitcoin’s path on the rise, but its jump remained in the single digits.
This return to optimism in the cryptocurrency market came as the US dollar weakened as a result of the escalating feud between Trump and Powell, highlighting a major disagreement over monetary policy and central bank independence. This dispute has had significant implications for financial markets. The U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies amid concerns about the independence of the Federal Reserve, and investors are wary of potential political interference in monetary policy.
The US dollar experienced a sharp decline, reaching multi-year lows against major currencies. On Monday, the dollar index (DXY) fell to 98.29, its lowest level in more than three years. The decline reflects a broader trend, with the dollar losing around 7.6% since the beginning of the year.
President Trump has publicly expressed displeasure with Powell’s handling of interest rates. He accused Powell of being “too late and wrong” in his decisions, and noted that “Powell’s dismissal cannot be done quickly enough.” Trump’s frustration stems from the Federal Reserve’s reluctance to cut interest rates sharply, which he sees as necessary to stimulate economic growth. He also compared the Fed’s actions negatively to those of the European Central Bank, which recently cut its key interest rate.
