Analysis: The investigation into Powell briefly pushed Bitcoin above $92,000, but continued net outflows from ETFs and weak demand for leverage limite...
TL;DR
Bitcoin briefly surged above $92,000 due to a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Powell, but gains were limited by ETF outflows and weak leverage demand. The price remains down from highs, with futures premiums neutral and traders questioning Bitcoin's store-of-value narrative.
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ChainCatcher reports that, according to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin briefly surged above $92,000 on Monday due to a criminal investigation launched by U.S. federal prosecutors into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Analysts question whether the Fed's independence could be undermined, potentially benefiting scarce alternative assets like Bitcoin.
Despite the brief rally triggered by the news, traders remained cautious overall, primarily due to continued outflows from Bitcoin ETFs and weak demand for leveraged long positions. Even with the recent rebound, Bitcoin is still down about 23% from its October 2025 high, while gold and silver are poised to reach all-time highs in 2026. This divergence has also prompted traders to question whether the narrative of Bitcoin as a store of digital value is waning.
The annualized premium (i.e., basis) for Bitcoin futures remains at a neutral-to-bearish level of around 5%. Typically, when market sentiment truly shifts to bullish, the premium of Bitcoin futures relative to the spot price often reaches or exceeds 10%. More importantly, Bitcoin spot ETFs have recorded a total net outflow of $1.38 billion over four consecutive trading days.
More worryingly, despite Strategy's acquisition of approximately $1.25 billion worth of Bitcoin over the past month, the price of Bitcoin has failed to hold above $94,000. Overall, the appeal of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies remains weak, as evidenced by ETF fund flows and sluggish demand for leveraged long positions in Bitcoin. This suggests that the probability of an unexpected surge and a test of $105,000 in the short term is relatively low.