Bitcoin Selling Pressure Weakens as U.S. Spot ETFs Draw in $506M

In brief

• U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows hit $506M Wednesday, their highest level since February 2.
• The Coinbase premium index flipped positive for first time since mid-January.
• One analyst warned that easing selling pressure doesn’t confirm a trend reversal.

Bitcoin extended its rally Thursday as on-chain data showed easing selling pressure and U.S. spot ETFs recorded their largest inflow day in nearly three weeks. The leading cryptocurrency climbed 4.4% over the past 24 hours to around $68,300, according to CoinGecko data. The move extends Wednesday’s pre-Nvidia earnings-driven rally in tech stocks, which also influenced Bitcoin, Decrypt previously reported. NVIDIA’s blockbuster earnings report on Wednesday gave this uptrend a tailwind, pushing the entire crypto market up 4.4% to $2.43 trillion, per CoinGecko. The chipmaker posted quarterly revenue of $68.1 billion, up 73% year-over-year, significantly exceeding Wall Street expectations across all major metrics.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $506 million in inflows on Wednesday, the highest since February 2’s $561 million haul, according to SoSoValue. The surge suggests institutional demand is reaccelerating after a period of subdued activity. “Bitcoin spot demand is growing for the first time since late November,” Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, tweeted Thursday.

Bitcoin spot demand is growing for the first time since late November. pic.twitter.com/ZnbiWDnB0C

— Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) February 25, 2026

Additional on-chain data points to reduced selling pressure on U.S. exchanges. The Coinbase premium index—which measures the price difference between Bitcoin on Coinbase versus Binance, and serves as a proxy for U.S. institutional demand—has climbed from deeply negative territory around February 12 to 0.05 this week. “Selling pressure on Coinbase is easing,” CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju also tweeted Thursday, pointing to the metric’s turnaround.

Lacie Zhang, Market Analyst at Bitget Wallet, told Decrypt that the shifting dynamics could signal a strategic entry point for investors. “This easing, evidenced by a 25% drop in on-chain outflows and growing apparent demand since late November, could indeed set the stage for a market bottom,” she said. “It presents a buying opportunity with improved risk-reward ratios that encourage long-term investment in the sector.” Not all analysts share that optimism. Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at CEX.IO, offered a more measured view, attributing the reduced selling pressure to cooling speculative activity rather than a fundamental shift in demand. “Since early February 2026, futures volume has dropped by about 44%, and spot volume is down roughly 50% from recent highs,” he told Decrypt. “When leverage declines, and trading slows, forced selling also tends to decrease.” Despite the positive signals, Otychenko cautioned that the current setup does not yet confirm a trend reversal since the market structure remains fragile and demand hasn’t really caught up yet.  While current developments are “constructive,” Otychenko said, he added that they are “not strong enough on their own to confirm a bottom—or kickstart an uptrend—especially without improving macro conditions.” Regardless, users on prediction market Myriad, owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, assign a 46% chance that Bitcoin’s next move would pump it to $84,000, up from lows of That probability has increased from 31% on Wednesday.