Bitcoin Demand Surges in Bullish Catalyst That May Drive BTC Price to $70K

As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen eye for market trends and a knack for deciphering complex data, I must say that the current state of Bitcoin (BTC) is quite promising. The technical indicators, inflows into U.S. BTC ETFs, and the apparent demand spike all point towards a potential $70K milestone in the near future.

The interest in Bitcoin (BTC) seems to be resurfacing again following a period of low activity since May. Last week, there was an apparent surge in demand for approximately 177,000 BTC, which preceded a 5% increase in its value.

Over the past week, Bitcoin has outperformed, rising by 11%, as reported by CoinDesk Indices data, while the CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a benchmark for the largest digital assets, increased by 9.6% over the same duration.

According to analysts from CryptoQuant, headed by Julio Moreno, this latest reading marks the highest since late April and has propelled Bitcoin’s price to surpass $67,800 – a level not seen for ten weeks.

To maintain a steady increase towards a fresh record high, it’s crucial that bitcoin demand seems to expand further. As Moreno pointed out, the apparent demand reached a maximum of 490,000 to 550,000 BTC, suggesting there is still potential for prices to climb higher.

The chart below shows how positive and growing apparent demand preceded the BTC price rallies to new record highs in 2020-2021 and 2024.

In the first quarter of 2024, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based in the U.S. have consistently purchased Bitcoin, with an average daily inflow of nearly 9,000 BTC. This significant investment has contributed to a surge in Bitcoin’s price, pushing it to new record levels.

According to data from SoSoValue, U.S. Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) experienced a substantial increase in investments on Wednesday, with a total of $458.5 million flowing into them. Among all the listed products, Blackrock’s IBIT received the largest share at approximately $393.4 million.

Large investors are consistently adding more bitcoin to their portfolios. The collective bitcoin holdings of significant players (excluding exchanges and mining pools) has been steadily increasing annually, reaching approximately 670,000 BTC. Furthermore, the increase in holdings surpasses its one-year moving average, indicating a potential upward trend for prices.

As a researcher, I observed an intriguing development in the Bitcoin market earlier this week: The weighted perpetual futures funding rate surged to a multiple-month peak of approximately 0.0136%. This spike suggests that the influx of fresh capital into the market might lead to heightened volatility in the near future.

64% of Polymarket bettors predict that Bitcoin (BTC) will reach $70,000 by October, an increase of 45 percentage points within the last week. Additionally, they believe there’s a 75% chance BTC will set a new record high in 2024, rising by 23 percentage points during that time frame.

In other cryptocurrency news, Doge-centric coins maintained their upward trend following a surge in DOGE on Wednesday. This rise was attributed to Elon Musk’s reported $75 million donation to a political group aligned with former President Trump and his ongoing endorsement of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on social media platform X. As a result, DOGE, the cryptocurrency, increased by 5.8% during the Asian trading hours of Wednesday, while its competitor Solana-themed coin BONK saw nearly a 9% rise.