Bitcoin price holds above $102,000 as BlackRock leads fund inflows
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) traded relatively flat on Thursday, priced just above $102,200 (£76,989) — down around 1% on the day — as institutional investors resumed allocations into US-based spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Wednesday.
A total of nearly $320m flowed into the eleven US-listed bitcoin ETFs during the session, reversing Tuesday's outflows. BlackRock's (BLK) IBIT (IBIT) led the way, attracting $232.9m in inflows.
The return of institutional buying followed a day of net outflows totalling $96m on Tuesday, which coincided with bitcoin dipping to $101,429. Some investors appear to be waiting for a decisive break above the $105,000 mark before increasing exposure.
Read more: Crypto live prices
'Despite the pause, momentum remains firm and over 98% of bitcoin wallet addresses are in profit, and open interest stays above $30bn,' Nexo Dispatch analyst Iliya Kalchev told Yahoo Finance UK.
'Futures activity has picked up, and options markets show growing demand for upside exposure, and for now, traders are focused on macro data as the next driver of direction.'
Altcoins mostly declined on Wednesday, paring gains from earlier in the week.
Ethereum (ETH-USD), the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, dropped 3.8% to $2,574.30.
XRP (XRP-USD) fell 3.6% to $0.4983. Solana (SOL-USD) slumped 5.6%, Cardano (ADA-GBP) lost over 5%, and Polygon shed more than 7%.
Among meme coins, Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) plunged 5.8%, while $TRUMP (TRUMP-OFFICIAL-USD) dropped 6.2%.
Equity markets also turned cautious ahead of the US Producer Price Index (PPI) data due Thursday, which could offer further clues on US inflation and the Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook.
In pre-market trading, Dow futures (YM=F), S&P 500 futures (ES=F), and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were down 0.58%, 0.42%, and 0.43%, respectively.
Read more: How Trump and Melania meme coins are performing after 100 days
Bitcoin remains above the psychologically significant $100,000 level, supported by optimism over easing trade tensions. However, uncertainty continues to cap gains this week.
Investor sentiment improved earlier in the week following a joint US-China statement pledging to temporarily roll back tariffs, easing fears of a global economic slowdown. That optimism was reinforced on Tuesday when the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data came in lower than expected, calming inflation concerns.
These developments strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates later this year. Still, analysts remain cautious, noting that the Fed is likely to prioritise inflation control and wait for clearer signs of economic softening before making a move.
Read more:
Why pension funds are buying bitcoin
What we know about Elon Musk's controversial blockchain vision for US
How AI could change the internet
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