Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US snapped a five-week net outflow streak in the trading week ending March 21.

Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs clocked a net inflow of $744.35 million — the highest tally in eight weeks — extending their daily inflow streak to six consecutive days, according to data from SoSoValue.

US-based spot Bitcoin ETF net flows get back on track. Source: SoSoValue

Five funds contributed to the inflows, with the bulk coming from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which recorded $537.5 million. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) followed with $136.5 million.

The renewed inflows come after a bearish period for both the crypto market and the broader global economy, marked by growing concerns over escalating trade tensions and rising recession concerns.

Related: US recession would be a big catalyst for Bitcoin: BlackRock

In the weeks surrounding that date, Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest net inflows of 2025: $1.96 billion in the week ending Jan. 17 and $1.76 billion the following week. Bitcoin (BTC) surged to an all-time high of $109,000 on Jan. 20, the inauguration day of US President Donald Trump.

Bitcoin later dropped into the $78,000 range amid the broader market correction. With the latest inflows — the strongest since January — the price rebounded to $87,343 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.

Bitcoin leaves Ethereum in the red zone

The same can’t be said for Ether (ETH) ETFs, which extended their weekly net outflow streak to four weeks.

Ethereum ETF net inflows continue slumping. Source: SoSoValue

During the week ending March 21, Ethereum funds saw a net outflow of $102.89 million, with BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) accounting for $74 million of that total.

Ether (ETH) was trading at $2,090 at the time of writing, up from below $2,000 — a level it fell beneath for the first time in over a year.

Still, there’s a bright spot for Ethereum, as institutions continue to deepen their exposure to the asset.

Related: Ethereum eyes 65% gains from ‘cycle bottom’ as BlackRock ETH stash crosses $1B

BlackRock’s BUIDL fund — which primarily invests in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) — now holds a record $1.145 billion worth of Ether, up from approximately $990 million just a week earlier, according to Token Terminal. The fresh injection of ETH signals growing conviction from the world’s largest asset manager in Ethereum’s role as the leading infrastructure for real-world asset tokenization.

Market sentiment improves but investors remain cautious

Market sentiment on crypto has improved since the past week, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index improving to 45% from 32 last week.

However, Singapore-based investment firm QCP Capital advises caution regarding the likelihood of a sustained breakout.

“Upcoming tariff escalations slated for 2 April could once again pressure risk assets,” QCP Cap said in a March 24 market analysis.

Magazine: What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum’s latest innovation

Bitcoin heads into the end of Q1 near two-week highs as trader sentiment diverges from improving technicals.

Bitcoin (BTC) market participants are positioned for a fresh BTC price dip, which could even form new multimonth lows.

PCE week coincides with the last full trading week of March, and risk assets are showing a hint of optimism.

When it comes to BTC price strength, RSI is increasingly demanding bullish continuation.

Bitcoin’s short-term holders are under pressure amid serious unrealized losses.

Stablecoin stocks on Binance hit record highs in what research hopes is a positive signal for investor confidence.

Bitcoin traders see downside reversal next

Bitcoin is nearing a rematch with two-week highs as the week gets underway, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Among traders, however, the mood remains cautious.

Bulls have a lot to do in order to spark a reliable uptrend, they warn, and despite being up nearly 15% versus its multimonth lows from earlier this month, BTC/USD may well see a fresh drop.

“Market sentiment has been restored after hitting the short liquidations at $87.1k. Now, it could be a good opportunity for the MM to shake out the market again,” popular trader CrypNuevo wrote in his latest X analysis. 

“We may see a pullback from here over the next 1-2 weeks, a retrace of this recovery.”

BTC liquidity chart. Source: CrypNuevo/X

CrypNuevo eyed downside liquidity nearer $80,000 as a potentially lucrative target, advising followers to “mind the risk.”

BTC/USDT 1-hour chart. Source: CrypNuevo/X

Fellow trading account HTL-NL described the near-term scenario as “not looking good” for bulls, eyeing $90,000 as a ceiling before a reversal kicks in.

Even among its more ardent supporters, the specter of the mid-$70,000 lingers. Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, argues that BTC/USD could even advance to new all-time highs of $110,000 before crashing 30%.

LATEST: BitMex co-founder Arthur Hayes predicts Bitcoin will hit $110k before retesting $76.5k, claiming Fed is switching from QT to QE for treasuries and dismisses tariff concerns, citing “transitory inflation.” pic.twitter.com/VX3ORPyvii

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 24, 2025

“Again I still think we go lower before we make a run back to 88-90k resistance retest,” trader Roman meanwhile added on short timeframes.

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on several key support trend lines in need of a reclaim as part of any BTC price recovery.

These included the 200-day simple and exponential moving averages, currently at $85,050 and $85,500, respectively.

BTC/USD 1-day chart with 200 SMA, 200 EMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

PCE week comes in the shadow of tariffs

The last full trading week of Q1 2025 gets underway with a hint of relief for risk assets as stocks end a four-week losing streak.

A wild ride for equities since the year began is finally coming to a close, and with it an even more volatile period for Bitcoin and crypto.

That said, more surprises could come before the quarterly candle close.

March 28 is the main date in traders’ diaries this week, hosting the February print of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index. 

Known to be the Federal Reserve’s “preferred” inflation gauge, PCE came in below expectations last month, with the upcoming numbers broadly expected to be identical.

Citing the Fed’s own estimates, financial market research firm Bespoke saw positive developments for risk-on sentiment developing.

“The Fed’s inflation model currently estimates that headline and core for both CPI and PCE will all have 2-handles by March,” it observed last week.  

“Makes room for further cuts.”

Fed target rate probabilities for June FOMC meeting. Source: CME Group

The latest estimates from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool meanwhile show market odds for interest rate cuts unchanged, with the June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) as the likely timeframe for financial conditions to ease.

The US government’s reciprocal tariff arrangement, due to go live on April 2, could temper any optimism.

At a press conference following the latest FOMC meeting last week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell cited tariffs as a “driving factor” in increasing inflation expectations.

“You may have seen that goods inflation moved up pretty significantly in the first two months of the year. Trying to track that back to actual tariff increases, given what was tariff and what was not, very, very challenging. So, some of it,” he said. 

“The answer is clearly some of it, a good part of it is coming from tariffs.”

RSI signals tease key BTC price breakouts

When it comes to early bull market continuation signals, Bitcoin is currently enjoying several classics at once.

These all hinge on the relative strength index (RSI), a key momentum indicator that is in the process of breaking out across both long and short timeframes.

Market observers are keenly eyeing bullish divergences on RSI, which on weekly timeframes is abandoning a downtrend in place since November 2024.

Originally spotted by trader and analyst Rekt Capital last week, the process is continuing, with RSI seeking to confirm the downtrend line as support before heading higher.

“The Daily RSI is showcasing early signs of retesting the Downtrend dating back to November 2024 as new support,” Rekt Capital wrote in his latest update on the topic.

BTC/USD 1-day chart with RSI data. Source: Rekt Capital/X

As reported by fellow analyst Matthew Hyland, BTC/USD has now confirmed a bullish divergence on the weekly chart for the first time since September last year.

BTC/USD 1-week chart with RSI data. Source: Matthew Hyland/X

Daily RSI meanwhile measured 51.4 at the time of writing — above its key midpoint and fighting to hit new two-month highs.

Bitcoin speculators face a profit waiting game

Bitcoin’s short-term holders (STHs) — newcomer entities hodling coins for up to six months — are “under increasing pressure,” onchain analytics firm Glassnode warned.

In its latest analysis on X, Glassnode showed substantial unrealized losses among the STH cohort, one traditionally more sensitive to short-term BTC price volatility.

“Unrealized losses have surged, pushing many STH coins underwater, nearing the +2σ threshold,” it noted alongside a chart that applies standard deviation to the performance of their holdings.

Bitcoin STH unrealized loss. Source: Glassnode/X

As Cointelegraph reported, recent trips to multimonth lows for BTC/USD have been accompanied by significant panic selling by these newer investors, with many choosing to exit their positions at a loss.

Zooming out, however, Glassnode observes that compared to historical extremes, current loss-making sales barely compete.

“The rolling 30-day realized loss for Bitcoin’s STHs has reached $7B, marking the largest sustained loss event of this cycle,” it continued. 

“However, this remains well below prior capitulation events, such as the $19.8B and $20.7B losses in 2021-22.”

Bitcoin STH rolling 30-day realized loss. Source: Glassnode/X

Stablecoin reserves offer glimmer of hope

Further data points to a return of investor confidence in the largest crypto exchange, Binance.

Related: Bitcoin price recovery sets base for TON, AVAX, NEAR, OKB to rally.

As highlighted by onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, the total ERC-20 standard stablecoin reserves on the exchange hit new all-time highs above $31.8 billion on March 21.

“Binance remains the exchange with the highest trading volumes, making this a significant development,” contributor Darkfost wrote in one of its “Quicktake” blog posts on March 23.

“There are several factors behind this increase, but the most important one is likely that investors on Binance remain confident and are preparing to enter, or re-enter, the market.”

Binance ERC-20 stablecoin reserve. Source: CryptoQuant

Darkfost acknowledged that Binance may be the source of additional liquidity as it prepares for a potential uptick in activity.

“Nonetheless, seeing these stablecoins remain on Binance is generally a positive signal for the market,” he concluded.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Dubai-based crypto market maker and investor DWF Labs launched a $250 million Liquid Fund to accelerate the growth of mid- and large-cap blockchain projects and drive real-world adoption of Web3 technologies.

DWF Labs is set to sign two investment deals worth $25 million and $10 million as part of the fund.

The initiative aims to grow the crypto landscape by offering strategic investments ranging from $10 million to $50 million for projects that have the potential to drive real-world adoption, according to a March 24 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Source: DWF Labs

The fund will focus on blockchain projects with significant “usability and discoverability,” according to Andrei Grachev, managing partner of DWF Labs.

“We’re focusing our support on mid to large-cap projects — the tokens and platforms that typically serve as entry points for retail users,” Grachev told Cointelegraph, adding:

“However, good technology and utility alone isn’t sufficient. Users first need to discover these projects, comprehend their value and develop trust.”

“We believe that strategic capital, coupled with hands-on ecosystem development, is the key to unlocking the next wave of growth for the industry,” he said.

Similar incentives may bring more capital for developing blockchain projects and lead to more sophisticated blockchain use cases. The fund comes over a month after the 0G Foundation launched an $88 million ecosystem fund to accelerate projects creating AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and autonomous agents, also known as DeFAI agents.

Related: Crypto debanking is not over until Jan 2026: Caitlin Long

New blockchain users need reliable infrastructure: DWF Labs

New users need robust, functional infrastructure when interacting with their first blockchain-based application.

“This approach ensures that when new users enter the space, they’re met with reliable infrastructure, strong communities, and meaningful use cases—not friction,” Grachev said, adding:

“It’s about creating the conditions for real, sustained adoption and helping the next wave of users not just arrive onchain — but stay.”

To ensure projects launch with solid infrastructure, each investment will offer ecosystem growth strategies, including developing lending markets, amplifying brand presence and supporting the project’s stablecoin growth and DeFi activities to “deepen liquidity.”

Related: ETH may reclaim $2.2K ‘macro range’ amid growing whale accumulation

Other industry leaders have blamed the friction in blockchain applications for a lack of mainstream adopters.

The current user onboarding process is complicated and riddled with friction points, which is the main issue for mass crypto adoption, according to Chintan Turakhia, senior director of engineering at Coinbase.

Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph at EthCC, Turakhia said:

“If our goal is to bring in the next billion users — and let’s start with just 100 million — we have to take all those friction points out.”

Some of the most pressing friction points include setting up a wallet with a complicated seed phase, paying transaction fees and buying blockchain-native tokens to transact on a network.

Magazine: Ripple says SEC lawsuit ‘over,’ Trump at DAS, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 16 – 22