Bitcoin Market Structure Shifts Amid Rising Institutional Demand

The Bitcoin market has been experiencing a divergence between its spot demand and derivatives positioning, according to a recent analysis by XWIN Research Japan.

The crypto education page notes that Spot Bitcoin's ETF inflows have been strong since late February, with approximately $1 billion in net inflows per week. This trend of positive ETF inflows extended into April, with the Bitcoin ETFs recording around $14.45 million in net inflows as of Friday.

At the same time, Ethereum ETFs saw about $23.38 million in net deposits.

The readings from the Coinbase Premium Index have also remained in positive territory, further reinforcing the growing bullish pressure from institutional investors in the US.

However, despite this institutional demand, derivatives markets are actively preaching a bearish message, with funding rates remaining negative and suggesting that Bitcoin traders are stacking positions in anticipation of downside moves.

This could be due to 'recency bias' and is intended to avoid further losses after recent volatility spikes. However, this could be dangerous for leveraged traders as institutional demand continues to pick up.