Bitcoin braces for CPI, FOMC as exchanges shed $1.2B of BTC in a day

Bitcoin exchanges see mass withdrawals continue while BTC price action teases multi-week lows in U.S. macro data.
Bitcoin exchanges see mass withdrawals continue while BTC price action teases multi-week lows in U.S. macro data.

Bitcoin returned to circle $67,500 on June 12 after a cross-crypto rout sparked large exchange withdrawals.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Traders not surprised by weak BTC price behavior

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed Bitcoin (BTC) price action steadying as markets braced for United States macroeconomic events.

Bitcoin had fallen to $66,000 the day prior in a cascade, which sparked long liquidations totaling over $50 million, per data from monitoring resource CoinGlass.

BTC liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

The events conformed to a pattern previously seen before Federal Reserve meetings on interest rates, the latest due on the day along with the May print of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Reacting, many traders recognized classic BTC price behavior, combined with the fact that BTC/USD sat at key resistance below all-time highs.

Source: Quinten

“Same accounts on CT start calling for higher. Saying 100k is programmed. Saying we’re gonna break out and leave the bears behind. When the fact is that $BTC has just been trading in a range for 3 months,” popular trader Follis summarized in part of a post on X.

As Cointelegraph reported, others saw the potential for downside to continue toward $60,000 should market bid dynamics not change.

At the time of writing, CoinGlass data showed liquidity building around $65,700 to the downside, with $67,700 forming the main hurdle to overcome higher up.

BTC liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

“History prevails,” popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital continued while comparing this BTC price cycle to those before it.

“Bitcoin was not able to breakout this early in the Post-Halving period, as history suggested.”
BTC/USD comparison. Source: Rekt Capital

Bitcoin exchanges see new wave of withdrawals

Onchain data meanwhile captured ongoing exchange withdrawals, with the largest U.S. exchange, Coinbase, particularly in focus.

Related: Bitcoin hash ribbons flash the first buy signal since $25K BTC price

The total BTC balance on Coinbase Pro was down 14,420 BTC ($972 million) in the 24 hours to the time of writing, building on existing exchange balance decreases, which Cointelegraph reported on earlier in June.

In the 30 days through June 12, Coinbase was down by over 38,000 BTC, with overall exchange balances at their lowest in seven years.

Exchange balance data (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Onchain analytics platform Glassnode put the net transfer volume from exchanges on June 11 at 17,967 BTC ($1.21 billion).

Bitcoin net transfer volume from/to exchanges. Source: Glassnode

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.