Bitcoin Crypto Faces Sell Pressure as Open Interest Surges Near $70K

Key Insights:

• Bitcoin crypto open interest surges, price drops, and CVD metric declines, confirming the selling is driven by new positioning and long liquidation.
• BTC price corrects between $69,000 and $70,000, setting it up for another push upward if support holds.
• Bitcoin ETF products returned to seeing outflows as the price corrected.

The price of Bitcoin crypto plunged moderately over the past 24 hours. However, Bitcoin open interest (OI) surged during the same period, signaling aggressive selling pressure. At the same time, BTC price tested the $70,000 region, while the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) returned to seeing outflows.

Contrast in Bitcoin Crypto Open Interest and Price

Onchain data analytics platform CoinGlass has pointed out contrasting movement between BTC price and open interest. According to CoinGlass, Bitcoin open interest is increasing, but the price is down. For context, OI measures the total number of outstanding futures or perpetual contracts in the market.

When OI rises while BTC price falls, it usually signals that new positions are being opened rather than existing ones being closed out. CoinGlass also added that the Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) metric is declining. It tracks the running total of the difference between aggressive buy and aggressive sell volume.

A downward CVD shows net aggressive selling pressure dominating over time. Simply put, there are more urgent sellers than buyers.

Typically, when the price declines and OI goes up, it suggests new short positions are being opened. In contrast, when that same move shows CVD down, it confirms the selling is not passive, but driven by aggressive sellers hitting the bid.

CoinGlass explained that if open interest continues to rise and CVD remains deeply negative, the downward pressure may not be over. Bears appear to be dominating, at least in the derivatives market.

This kind of setup is watched closely in crypto perpetuals. That’s because high leverage and aggressive positioning can lead to sharp reversals if sentiment flips.

Bitcoin Crypto Price Correcting

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin crypto price is consolidating around $70,350, down 5.14% over the past 24 hours. Commenting on the latest BTC price action, market analyst Michael Van de Poppe shared technical analysis amid a risk-off environment.

The analyst observed a broad risk-asset sell-off in stocks, crypto, and commodities, except Oil. Van de Poppe called the drop “not a bad case,” since Bitcoin is outperforming relative to other assets.

While BTC has pulled back, the drop is shallower than expected given the market-wide pressure. This is a positive sign, according to Van de Poppe. He also pointed out that Bitcoin crypto recently hit resistance. However, BTC price got rejected and has now retraced to its key support between $69,000 and $70,000.

In a bullish case, if this level acts as solid support, it sets up for another push upward. On the flip side, if support breaks decisively, the analyst expects a deeper correction to $60,000 or lower.

Bitcoin ETFs Log Outflows

Surprisingly, the Bitcoin ETFs returned to negative flows on March 18, after recording a 7-day inflow streak. The outflows come as institutional demand remains weak following the recent shift in market sentiment.

According to Farside Investors’ data, the spot BTC ETFs registered outflows of $163.5 million on Wednesday, March 18, 2025.

Fidelity’s FBTC saw the highest outflows, reaching $103.8 million, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT, with $33.9 million. Grayscale’s GBTC also recorded outflows of $18.8 million, while $7 million flowed from Bitwise’s BITB.

It is important to note that the pullback in the Bitcoin ETF demand comes amid broader market volatility. As such, analysts are less concerned about overall inflows. Moreso, the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. remains extremely positive.

Furthermore, Bitcoin crypto trading volume also increased on the daily chart. It suggests interest from retail and institutional players. In the past 24 hours, trading volume rose 32.7% to $49.5 billion.