Crypto exchange Binance saw a fresh wave of Bitcoin selling pressure over the past six weeks as market participants aggressively opened short positions in derivatives. The move pushed Binance’s Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) into deep negative territory. Yet Bitcoin barely blinked. BTC price’s continued crabbing indicated that the market has been quietly and consistently absorbing the selling.
BTC Price Chills Even As Sellers Raise The Heat
BorisVest, an onchain and order flow analyst, flagged a persistent bearish divergence on Binance Derivatives.
The analyst noted that while the BTC USD pair traded between $100,000 and $110,000, the CVD has remained steeply negative for over 45 days. This sustained sell-side pressure reflects aggressive takers treating every bounce as a shorting opportunity. However, the failure of the bears to push BTC below $108,000 suggests strong opposing forces.
Bitcoin’s resilience becomes easier to explain when zooming out to onchain behavior. Glassnode’s Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) metric has hovered at low levels through June and early July, indicating that long-term holders have refrained from exiting.
Long-term holders have stayed inactive outside of a single, isolated spike in early July, likely due to the recent whale movement of two 14-year-old wallets. That undercuts any narrative of broader sell pressure from foundational supply. If early adopters or deep-pocketed holders continue to hodl, the structural integrity of BTC remains unshaken.
Meanwhile, wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have increased their holdings every week since March. These mid-tier whales have now been absorbing more supply than ever since June 2024. In contrast, the largest wallets—those holding over 10,000 BTC—have offloaded steadily, with that supply cascading into smaller bands.
The rise in the number of 100-1,000 BTC wallets likely stems from the growing number of firms opting to add BTC to their balance sheets. Several firms have recently raised funds to buy BTC tokens in the thousands.
The combination of derivatives sell pressure and real-spot accumulation paints a clear structural picture. As Binance derivatives show visible selling, the spot market has soaked up that pressure through conviction buyers. Short-term selloffs would likely fail to gain momentum without panic from old holders or net outflows from mid-tier buyers.
Traders Stick With Long Bias Despite Increased Selling Pressure
Despite the increased selling pressure, some technical traders remain firmly positioned on the long side. BitBull, a crypto market analyst, identified a textbook bull flag breakout near the $108,500 level—the same zone where short pressure has repeatedly built up.
Bitcoin price has broken out of the pattern, though a rally seems unlikely at the moment, given the bearish pressure near the $108,000-$110,000. However, the breakout could attract more buyers into the market. Rather than triggering cascading liquidations, each retest has been met with absorption, reinforcing that sell-side pressure is neutralized by real demand.
Another X-based analysis account, Coinvo, pointed to recurring long-term patterns—specifically, a sequence of cup-and-handle formations visible on the weekly chart.
The analyst implied that Bitcoin’s current positioning resembles previous pre-rally zones, suggesting that technical structures are forming on top of consistent inflows, not despite them.
The divergence between persistent selling pressure and stable price reflects a function of supply absorption, both onchain and institutional. As long as that balance holds, even aggressive shorting on derivatives platforms may struggle to break Bitcoin’s broader trend.
