Bitcoin Hits $69,500 on Fresh Spot‑ETF Money and a More Positive U.S. Macro Outlook
By [Your Name] – February 25 2026
Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to a weekly peak of $69,500 on Wednesday, climbing from a trough near $62,400 in less than 24 hours. The bounce appears to be driven primarily by renewed demand for spot‑linked exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) and a broader improvement in risk sentiment following recent U.S. policy signals.
What sparked the surge?
- Spot‑ETF inflows: Data released for February 24 show net purchases of $257.7 million into U.S. spot‑Bitcoin ETFs, ending a five‑week streak of outflows that totalled roughly $3.8 billion. Fidelity accounted for about $83 million of the inflows, while BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust attracted close to $79 million.
- Macro backdrop: President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address highlighted declining mortgage rates and a 1.7 % drop in core inflation for the last quarter of 2025. Markets interpreted the speech as a reduction in near‑term policy uncertainty, lifting risk appetite across equities and crypto assets.
These two factors coincided with a modest uptick in spot buying, as indicated by the cumulative volume delta (CVD) on the hourly chart.
Derivatives market signals
| Metric | Current level | Recent trend |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregated open interest | ~235,000 BTC | Slightly down from a short‑term high above 240,000 BTC earlier in the week |
| Funding rate | –0.0037 % | Remains marginally negative, meaning short positions are still paying longs |
| Cumulative volume delta | Positive edge | Suggests spot‑side buying outweighs selling pressure |
The modest decline in open interest indicates that leveraged positions built up during the previous volatility have largely been unwound. Meanwhile, the negative‑to‑neutral funding rate shows that traders are not aggressively piling into long contracts despite the price rally.
Order‑book dynamics and dealer activity
- Bid pressure: Traders monitoring the order book have noted strong buying interest around the $60,000–$63,000 zone. Once that support was breached, price advanced roughly 8 % to the current level.
- Positive gamma from options dealers: Options market data reveal that many dealers are holding a “positive gamma” profile. In practice, this means they tend to buy when prices fall and sell when they rise, which can smooth price swings and temper extreme volatility.
Analysts caution that renewed selling pressure at the $60k–$63k region could dampen the current upward momentum and potentially trigger a correction.
Key takeaways
- ETF money returns: The $257 million net inflow into spot‑Bitcoin ETFs marks the first weekly positive flow since early January, signalling renewed institutional confidence.
- Leverage reset: Falling open interest and a mildly negative funding rate suggest that the market has cleared excess leveraged exposure, reducing the risk of a rapid unwind.
- Macro support: Recent U.S. economic commentary has eased policy‑uncertainty premiums, allowing risk‑on assets like Bitcoin to benefit.
- Potential headwinds: Order‑book resistance near $60k–$63k and the still‑negative funding rate mean that a sustained rally will require fresh buying pressure, possibly from additional ETF inflows or macro‑driven risk appetite.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute investment advice. Readers should conduct their own due diligence before making any trading or investment decisions. The information herein reflects publicly available data as of February 25 2026 and may be subject to change.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-tops-dollar68k-after-stock-market-rebound-strong-earnings-data-boost-risk-appetite?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
