Bitcoin price forms two BTC futures gaps after Coinbase premium flips negative

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin’s Coinbase premium index turned negative for the first time in 15 days, indicating defensive short-term sentiment among US investors.

• Bitcoin CME futures gaps between support at $92,000-$92,500 and resistance at $96,400-$97,400 suggest a period of range-bound trading.

Bitcoin’s Coinbase premium index, which measures the gap between BTC price at Coinbase Pro and Binance exchange, turned negative after a 15-day positive stint, signaling potential bearish sentiment among US investors.

This drop coincides with Bitcoin (BTC) slipping below $94,000, and the premium’s decline suggests reduced buying pressure on Coinbase, which is viewed as a proxy for both institutional and retail demand.

Cointelegraph reported early signs of selling pressure, with Bitcoin recording over $300 million in negative spot cumulative volume delta (CVD) from April 27 to April 29, indicating sustained sell-side activity.

Related: Strategy, Semler bag 2K Bitcoin as price edged toward $100K last week

This selling pressure persisted over the weekend, contributing to the price decline, with anonymous crypto analyst Exitpump noting that Bitfinex whales exhibited significant selling pressure compared to Coinbase and Binance. 

Additionally, approximately 8,000 BTC in open interest (OI) was removed across futures markets, reflecting reduced leverage. However, recent data shows that the aggregated futures bid-ask delta is turning positive, suggesting potential buying interest in derivatives markets.

Bitcoin has futures gaps in both directions

Bitcoin is at a pivotal juncture, trading around $94,000 between two CME futures gaps. The gaps are between $92,000 and $92,500 from two weeks ago and $96,400 and $97,400 from the recent weekend. CME gaps often act as magnets for price action, with historical trends showing a tendency to fill these gaps in a matter of days.

Bitcoin is expected to test at least one gap this week, with a potential drop to $92,000 more likely after Bitcoin failed to hold its position above its 200-day simple moving average (blue line).

Bitcoin has lost its position above the 200-day SMA for the first time since April 11, possibly indicating a trend shift in the lower time frame (LTF) chart.

However, choppy price action is likely in the short term due to overhead resistance at $97,000-$98,000 (CME gap 1) and key support at $93,000, where multiple liquidity levels are present. 

Crypto trader UB pointed out several key areas of interest to watch for on X, saying: 

“Things are fairly clean in terms of key levels. $95.5k & $91.9k. I’m personally not interested in a Bitcoin trade unless price is at one of the levels above. A reclaim of $95.5k would be a clear long to $99.1k.”

Related: What will Bitcoin price be if gold hits $5K?

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.