Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to a weekly high of $68,600 on Wednesday, surging from lows near $62,400 in less than 24 hours. The rebound aligned with a renewed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows and firmer macroeconomic sentiment after the recent US policy signals helped steady broader risk markets.
Derivatives data shows that BTC’s open interest is falling and funding rates are staying relatively contained, indicating the move was largely driven by spot demand rather than a buildup of leveraged positioning.
Bitcoin receives a macro boost and a positive ETF flip
US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening framed the first 12-months of his leadership as an “economic turnaround for the ages,” highlighting falling mortgage rates and a 1.7% decline in core inflation over the final three months of 2025.
Markets interpreted the remarks as a sign of reduced near-term policy uncertainty following tariff and Supreme Court volatility, lifting the risk appetite across equities and crypto.
The US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $257.7 million in net inflows on Feb. 24, ending five consecutive weeks of redemptions totaling $3.8 billion. Fidelity drew roughly $83 million, and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust added close to $79 million.
Related: Bitcoin daily gains near 5% as analysis eyes bullish ‘rotation’ from gold
Bitcoin futures data clears excess downside risk
As Bitcoin trades near $69,000, futures data shows that its aggregated open interest has stabilized around 235,167 BTC, after previously reaching levels above 240,000 BTC earlier in the week.
The drop in open interest suggests that the excess leveraged positioning has already been flushed out during the recent volatility.
At the same time, aggregated funding rates remain slightly negative at -0.0037%. Negative funding indicates that short positions are still paying longs, signaling that traders are not aggressively chasing upside exposure despite the price rally.
This combination of cooling open interest and negative-to-neutral funding points to a market that has reset leverage rather than overheated. The rally toward $69,000 appears to be occurring without an aggressive buildup of long positioning.
The cumulative volume delta (CVD) has edged higher, showing that spot buyers are stepping in and are one of the primary drivers of this rally.
Market analyst BackQuant noted that derivatives activity is still playing a large role, and options data shows that dealers, the firms that sell options and hedge their exposure, are holding what’s known as positive gamma.
When gamma is positive, dealers tend to buy as the price falls and sell as the price rises to stay hedged. That behavior can smooth out volatility and slow sharp breakouts in either direction.
Likewise, trader LP also pointed to BTC’s order book dynamics around the $60,000–$63,000 region, where strong bid pressure previously absorbed selling. Since tapping that zone, the price has expanded roughly 8% to the upside.
The trader added that if sell pressure builds again at these levels, it may signal a slowdown in buy-side aggression and trigger another lower reversal.
Related: Anchorage buys STRC as Wall Street shorts mount against Saylor’s Bitcoin proxy
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