China News Daily Official TheBitTimes.com

It is difficult to imagine a more favorable environment for institutional bitcoin (BTC) adoption, yet it stubbornly refuses to rally. Despite sustained spot ETF inflows and record-setting purchases by a growing number of corporations, BTC has rallied a mere 9% year to date. Many investors had predicted that BTC’s bull cycle would have commenced in earnest by now, given that 2025 has been more bullish than any year in history by several metrics.  Indeed, in the last six months, the number of publicly-traded BTC acquisition companies has nearly doubled to over 130. Steadily reducing supply through their capital proceeds of stock, corporate paper, and preferred issuances, these companies have purchased 241,644 BTC since the start of the year and now hold a combined 832,293 BTC. Leverage-fueled purchases by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) mean it continues to lead in absolute dollar amounts, acquiring another 10,100 BTC in its most recent buy this week....

It’s a very simple question: Are central banks buying bitcoin? The answer, it turns out, is far more difficult than the question. Certainly, the US Federal Reserve hasn’t been buying bitcoin. Nor is it on the balance sheet of any G7 central bank. Nevertheless, David Bailey of Bitcoin Magazine claimed that smaller central banks were buying the currency. Others also think central bankers are buying, including Michael Arrington. When thinking about whether central bankers are buying bitcoin, El Salvador might be top-of-mind. Smartly, however, Bailey didn’t claim that El Salvador’s central bank had been buying bitcoin. Although it’s true that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has bought the currency using public funds, he’s not a central banker. As Bailey knows, El Salvador’s 5,782 bitcoins aren’t on the balance sheet to back its US dollar-pegged fiat, but rather in its more discretionary, fiscal treasury . Instead, Bailey cited an article claiming that Ir...

BTC price continues to show bullish momentum, but the absence of whale buyers and institutional investor selling threatens to weaken the current rally. Bitcoin’s (BTC) price broke above the February 2023 highs of $25,200 after U.S. inflation data was in consensus with the market expectation. The potential fallout of the global banking system further promoted Bitcoin investment as a non-correlated global hedging instrument similar to gold in March. The correlation between gold and BTC has been rising since the start of the month. Correlation coefficient between BTC and gold. Source: TradingView However, institutions have become net sellers of Bitcoin in 2023, which raises some red flags. Bitcoin whales, holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC, have not participated in the current rally. It appears that retail investors are mainly driving the uptrend. The divergence between whale and retail investment could cause a short-term pullback in Bitcoin prices. Institutions are forced BTC sellers, s...