Asia Morning Briefing: Michael Saylor’s BTC Buys Aren’t Making Up For Slowing Spot Demand, Say Analysts
Bitcoin (BTC) opens the Asian trading week at $109,000, reflecting a 0.8% increase week-over-week and a 4.5% rise month-over-month. Despite significant institutional buying from Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR) and continued ETF inflows, along with growing corporate adoption of BTC as a treasury asset, Bitcoin’s price remains below all-time highs. A new report from CryptoQuant attributes this to a decline in overall spot demand, outweighing institutional purchases.
CryptoQuant’s analysis reveals a 30-day contraction in BTC demand of -895,000, further exacerbated by slowing ETF and MSTR acquisitions. Compared to December’s 86,000 BTC ETF purchases and 171,000 BTC MSTR buys, these figures dropped significantly to 40,000 and 16,000 respectively last month. The report highlights BTC’s nearly empty mempool as additional evidence of low retail spot demand, suggesting a consolidation phase and insufficient buying pressure for a price breakout. Concerns are mounting regarding the sustainability of institutional buying, with SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci predicting a decline in the BTC treasury trend, although he acknowledges MSTR’s unique position. Conversely, Standard Chartered maintains a bullish outlook, retaining its $200,000 price target.
Over the weekend, BTC consolidated above $108,500, experiencing a recent surge from $108,327 to $108,620, with support found around $108,200-$108,300. Ethereum (ETH) also saw gains, rallying from $2,520.45 to $2,558.63 on July 6, boosted by significant trading volume and ETF inflows. Gold surged 1.91% to $3,336.61, driven by dollar weakness, anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts, tariff concerns, and increased Chinese gold imports. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, however, dipped 0.26% amid continued tariff uncertainty. Elsewhere in the crypto space, declining odds of a US recession, Ethereum’s growing Wall Street presence, and increased cryptocurrency seizures by Swedish police are making headlines.
