Bitcoin held $65K–$73K in wartime as Strategy and ETFs absorbed heavy selling
A ceasefire-driven push above $72K now tests whether that narrow bid can clear the $73K ceiling.
Bitcoin spent roughly six weeks of war-era trading pinned between $65,000 support and $73,000 resistance even as liquidations spiked and sentiment hit 2022-bear levels. The market’s next move hinges on whether a concentrated set of institutional buyers can keep absorbing whale, miner, and sovereign supply long enough to break the ceiling.
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin stayed trapped in a ~$65,000–$73,000 band through roughly six weeks of war headlines, $600 million liquidation events, and extreme-fear sentiment conditions.
- Strategy disclosed buying 4,871 BTC on April 5 for about $329.9 million at an average $67,718, lifting total holdings to 766,970 BTC at a blended cost basis of $75,644.
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed roughly 50,000 BTC in March on a 30-day rolling basis, but the latest weekly print showed just $22 million of U.S. inflows out of $107 million in global bitcoin ETP flows.
- Large holders and other discretionary sellers were cited as net supply, with CryptoQuant flagging a sharp whale distribution swing while miners and Bhutan also moved coins toward market.
Six Weeks of War, One Tight BTC Range: $65K Floor vs. $73K Ceiling
Bitcoin traded in a relatively tight $65,000 to $73,000 range through roughly six weeks of war, a period that also included conflict-driven volatility and multiple $600 million liquidation events. The stability looked almost stubborn against the tape, but the sentiment backdrop was anything but constructive.
The Fear and Greed Index spent over a month between 8 and 14, described as the most sustained stretch of extreme fear since the 2022 bottom. Santiment data also showed five bearish social posts for every four bullish posts last weekend, the most negative skew since the war began. In other words, price held the range while psychology deteriorated.
That divergence matters for market structure. A $65K floor that holds during “worst since 2022” sentiment usually implies either broad spot demand stepping in, or a smaller set of buyers with reasons to keep buying regardless of headlines.
The Mandated Bid: Strategy’s April Buy and the ETF Creation Channel
The clearest repeat buyer was Strategy. The company disclosed an April 5 purchase of 4,871 BTC for approximately $329.9 million at an average price of $67,718. Total holdings were cited at 766,970 BTC acquired for $58.02 billion at a blended cost basis of $75,644, leaving the position roughly 8% underwater at current prices while still adding below its average.
ETF flows were the other major “mandated” channel, where creations mechanically require spot BTC purchases. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed approximately 50,000 BTC in March on a 30-day rolling window, described as the fastest monthly pace since October 2025. But the weekly flow picture cooled. CoinShares data showed only $22 million of U.S. spot ETF inflows last week out of $107 million in total global bitcoin ETP flows.
Flow composition also skewed away from the U.S. CoinShares data showed Swiss-listed products taking in $157 million, described as 70% of a $224 million global ETP inflow. For traders, that split raises a practical question: can the market clear $73K if the marginal bid is concentrated and the latest U.S. weekly print stays soft.
The Discretionary Supply: Whale Distribution, Miner Treasury Sales, and Bhutan’s Drawdown
On the sell side, CryptoQuant characterized a sharp reversal in whale behavior. Whales holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC swung from about +200,000 BTC (one-year change) at the 2024 bull market peak to -188,000 BTC, a nearly 400,000 BTC reversal described as one of the most aggressive large-holder distribution cycles on record. The 365-day moving average continued to decline, framing the selling as structural rather than a one-off reaction.
Mid-tier holders (100–1,000 BTC) were still net accumulators, but annual additions fell more than 60% since October 2025 from nearly 1 million BTC to 429,000. That is not outright distribution yet, but it is weakening breadth.
Miners added visible supply. Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings, and Genius Group disclosed selling more than 19,000 BTC from treasuries in a single week earlier this month, with the packet linking sales pressure to all-time-high difficulty and rising energy costs with BTC near $70,000. Some miners, including Core Scientific, Iris Energy, and Hut 8, were described as pivoting capacity toward AI hosting to replace volatile mining income with contracted revenue.
Bhutan was another cited source of supply. The kingdom sold about 70% of holdings since October 2024, from roughly 13,000 BTC to 3,954, and moved another 319.7 BTC to exchange-linked wallets this week. The last mining inflow exceeding $100,000 was recorded over a year ago, suggesting the operation may have stopped, though no official confirmation was provided.
Ceasefire Rally Rebuilds Leverage: Shorts Liquidated, OI Expands, Coinbase Premium Flips
The ceasefire announcement Tuesday produced the sharpest single-day rally in over a month, with bitcoin surging past $72,000 and $427 million in shorts getting liquidated.
The move did not read as pure mechanical short covering. BTC perpetual open interest expanded by $2.1 billion and ETH perpetual open interest rose by $2.2 billion in 24 hours, and coin-denominated open interest also increased, which was interpreted as net new long positioning layered on top of liquidations.
Spot-side, the Coinbase Premium turned positive for both BTC and ETH for the first time since October’s all-time high, reversing months of negative readings. If that premium persists, it becomes a cleaner confirmation signal that U.S.-based demand is returning, not just leverage chasing a headline.
A Narrow Buyer Base Makes $73K a Flow Test, Not a Headline Trade
I treat the $65K–$73K band as a live experiment in who actually has to transact. The packet’s on-chain and treasury signals point to heavy discretionary distribution from whales, miners, and Bhutan, while the range held anyway. That only works if the institutional channels keep absorbing, and the latest weekly ETF print suggests that bid is not guaranteed to be broad or consistent.
The threshold that matters is $73,000 because it has rejected rallies since late February, and the real test is whether price can hold above ~$72,000 while Coinbase Premium stays positive and perpetual open interest continues to build with coin-denominated OI rising. If U.S. spot ETF inflows re-accelerate in the weekly CoinShares prints and discretionary supply does not intensify, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven, and $73K becomes a solvable flow problem instead of a permanent ceiling.
