Bitcoin price holds above $66k as traders distribute profits into altcoins

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to show resilience above $66,000 as the top crypto has managed to avoid a sustained double-digit decline from its all-time high set on Tuesday despite multiple attempts by bears to pound its price lower. 

Inflows into spot BTC exchange-traded funds continue to be the driving force behind Bitcoin’s resilience, led by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (ITIB), and the demand for institutionally accessible Bitcoin shows no signs of slowing. 

According to financial analyst Rajat Soni, IBIT increased its Bitcoin holdings by 4,186 yesterday, bringing its total BTC under management to 187,538. 

“Blackrock now holds 0.89% of the total supply of BTC, with its total assets valued at almost $12.6 billion,” Soni said. “900 BTC are issued per day. In April this will drop to 450. Blackrock clients bought 4.5x the newly issued supply yesterday.”

Data provided by Farside shows that collectively, “The Nine” ETFs have recorded a net inflow of $8.9 billion worth of BTC since launch, which includes the $9.88 billion in value that has exited GBTC. 

There’s a new ATH for BTC held by ETFs – 791K BTC 🤯

Excluding GBTC, IBIT holds over 187K Bitcoins, and Fidelity follows with 116K

GBTC sees significant outflows, with another 4.1K BTC leaving 📉

All other players, regardless of size, experience stable increases in holdings 📈 pic.twitter.com/7kXi7zDXzj

— Olga Feldmeier (@OlgaFeldmeier) March 7, 2024

With Bitcoin finally pausing its ascent after increasing 74% since Jan. 23, crypto traders are now calling for a rotation into altcoins, many of which have lagged behind ‘King Crypto’ up to this point. 

“While $BTC is consolidating we are entering the perfect conditions for an altcoin explosion!” said Ran Neuner, founder of Crypto Banter.  

Data provided by CoinMarketCap shows that multiple altcoins in the top 200 have recorded double-digit gains on Thursday while BTC and Ethereum (ETH) trade sideways, with traders shifting their activity from oversold meme coins to decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) related projects. 

Some of the top gainers include DePIN projects AIOZ Network (+44.4%) and Akash Network (+29.2%), and DeFi protocols Jupiter (+30.7%) and Raydium (+26%). 

There are also multiple double-digit gainers in the artificial intelligence, layer one, and layer two sectors. 

Despite the rotation into altcoins, the majority of crypto analysts remain bullish on Bitcoin’s price moving forward, with projections for the next all-time high falling in a range between $80,000 and $1 million. 

As Cube Analytics founder Caleb Franzen noted on X, “We’re still early in this #Bitcoin bull market.”

We’re still early in this #Bitcoin bull market.

How do I know?

Look at $BTC relative to the NYSE FANG+ Index $NYFANG, which is on the verge of what could be a massive breakout.

Long BTC + short Mag 7 could be a massive winner here.

Or just be long #BTC & let it ride. pic.twitter.com/HMgwxKCUte

— Caleb Franzen (@CalebFranzen) March 7, 2024

 At the time of writing, BTC trades at $67,300, an increase of 0.95% on the 24-hour chart.

BTC/USD Chart by TradingView