Bitcoin Falls Below $77K as Whales Accumulate

Bitcoin slipped below $77,000 over the weekend, extending a four-day losing streak and erasing nearly 6% of its weekly value. At the time of reporting the cryptocurrency traded around $76,819, down about 0.18% over the prior 24 hours.

On-chain analytics firm Santiment reported that bearish commentary now exceeds bullish posts for the first time since April 21. Santiment wrote that retail bearishness often precedes reversals as small traders sell during mild downswings.

Santiment data shows wallets holding at least 100 BTC climbed to 20,229 from 18,191 a year ago, an 11.2% increase. Each of those addresses controls roughly $7.7 million in Bitcoin. Santiment noted such wallets typically belong to institutions, corporate treasuries and long-duration holders, and added that rising counts are generally viewed as a sign of confidence among large holders.

Research firm Delphi Digital reported the BTC/gold ratio has recovered about 46% from its February lows and sits near 17.6. Delphi noted gold has corrected roughly 18% from its January peak while Bitcoin has recovered ground from the mid-$60,000s. The firm projected a bullish crossover of the weekly 9- and 21-period exponential moving averages for the BTC/gold ratio in early June and cited prior crossovers that preceded rallies of 148%, 641% and 148%.

Kevin Warsh was confirmed as Federal Reserve chair and will preside over his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting on June 16-17. Markets currently price about a 1.2% chance of a rate increase at that meeting. Inflation trends and ongoing tensions in the Middle East are ongoing factors for investors.

Market participants are watching the Fed meeting, upcoming inflation reports and geopolitical developments as they monitor short-term direction for Bitcoin.