Spot market conditions have improved after months of weakness, with US spot bitcoin ETFs switching from sustained outflows to modest inflows. Still, the report cautioned that demand has yet to fully recover, with ETF flows and purchases by corporate bitcoin finance firms such as Strategy ( STR ) remaining well below levels seen earlier this year.
While bitcoin’s rebound has helped lift sentiment across the market after a difficult second quarter, Bitfinex warned that the recovery is “not yet healed.”
Bitcoin currently accounts for nearly 67% of spot crypto trading volume, up from about 50% a year ago, according to Bitfinex. The shift suggests that investors continue to favor bitcoin over smaller tokens, a sign that traders remain defensive rather than embracing broad risk-taking.
‘summer sleep’
Data from K33 Research paints a similar picture.
Head of Research Vetle Lunde said institutional participation has continued to fade, with CME bitcoin futures open interest falling to the lowest level since 2023. Offshore perpetual futures positioning has remained largely unchanged, indicating that speculative traders have been reluctant to add leverage despite bitcoin’s recent gains.
Spot trading activity has also been slow. Thirty-day bitcoin trading volume is running at just 62% of its annual average, according to K33, and late July has historically been the weakest period of the year. Average daily spot volume over the past week was about $2.3 billion, hovering near yearly lows even as prices reversed.
K33 described the background as a “promising and typical summer slumber.”
