- Bitcoin’s price is now expressing some signs of stability within the lower $10,000 region, with bulls being able to garner some strong support
- This comes after the cryptocurrency defended its crucial near-term support level at $9,900 on multiple occasions throughout the past week
- One analyst is now noting that investor fear is at the same level it was at just before the crypto pumped to $12,000
- This also comes as institutional investors grow bullish on BTC, while retail traders rush to add short exposure
Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency market are heading into the weekend trading session without seeing any immense volatility.
While BTC remains stable above $10,300, some smaller altcoins have seen some overtly positive price action.
This seems to indicate that speculative investors aren’t growing too fearful about the cryptocurrency’s current technical position.
That being said, the latest Commitment of Trader’s (CoT) report from the CME shows that while retail investors are increasing their short exposure to the benchmark crypto, institutions are flipping long for the first time in a long time.
Bitcoin Stabilizes Above $10,000 as Investor Fear Levels Climb
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading sideways at its current price of $10,350. This is around the price at which it has been trading throughout the past few days, with bulls and bears largely reaching an impasse.
This marks a notable decline from the cryptocurrency’s recent highs of $12,400 that were set earlier this month.
It appears that this weakness has struck a blow to investor sentiment, as the Fear and Greed Index reveals that investors are now more fearful than they have been since before BTC pumped towards $12,000.
One analyst spoke about this trend in a recent tweet, saying:
“Fear is at the exact same level as just before the pump to 12k.”
Image Courtesy of Byzantine General.
Institutions Grow Slightly More Bullish on BTC
While speaking about the latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report, data aggregator Unfolded noted that while open interest is diving, it seems as though institutions are now moving to increase their long exposure to Bitcoin.
“08 – September CME BTC Commitments of Traders Report (COT). Open Interest: 8,198 (down -22.7%),” he explained.
Image Courtesy of Unfolded. Chart via TradingView.
As seen in the above chart, retail investors also seem to be rapidly decreasing their BTC long exposure.
This trend reveals that while retail investors are growing fearful and flipping short, so-called “smart money” is going long.
Featured image from Unsplash. Charts and pricing data from TradingView.
