Bitcoin has rebounded from an early-February slide that briefly pushed it to $60,000 and produced its most oversold sign on file, easing among the strain that has weighed on crypto markets.
In response to CryptoSlate’s knowledge, the flagship digital asset has steadied in latest days and briefly approached the $70,000 mark earlier than settling round $67,300 as of press time
This worth motion helped enhance the broader market sentiment as a result of it coincided with a three-day stretch of web inflows into US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), their strongest run this month.
On the similar time, the market is displaying indicators of improved spot demand for the primary time since late November.
In consequence, there was renewed market hypothesis that BTC might get well to $90,000 in March, although derivatives positioning suggests merchants nonetheless see that consequence as an extended shot.
Choices are pricing restoration, however not conviction
Bitcoin’s choices market suggests merchants are nonetheless paying up for defense, whilst chatter builds round a fast rebound.
On Deribit, the March 27 $90,000 name lately traded round $522, which interprets to lower than a 6% implied likelihood of Bitcoin reaching that degree by late March beneath normal Black-Scholes modeling.
In the meantime, the March 27 $50,000 put was close to $1,380, implying roughly a 20% probability of a deeper drop.
CME Group knowledge factors to the identical warning. On Feb. 5, 25-delta implied volatility rose to 75% for calls and 95% for places, each the best since 2022, whereas the 25-delta danger reversal slid to minus 19.34, its lowest degree since 2022.
That blend is typical of a market nonetheless shopping for draw back insurance coverage and never one satisfied the selloff is over.
On the similar time, derivatives positioning reveals why the restoration narrative has not vanished.
CME mentioned open curiosity tied to March expirations skewed bullish, with about $660 million in name open curiosity versus $240 million in put open curiosity, a 3-to-1 ratio.
Derive, a crypto choices platform, echoed that learn in a Feb. 27 electronic mail assertion to CryptoSlate.
The agency mentioned Bitcoin volatility has eased again into the 50% vary, a degree extra in line with consolidation than panic, whereas 25-delta skew improved from about minus 15% to round minus 7%, suggesting merchants have turn out to be much less defensive.
Throughout the March 27 expiry, the market reveals name accumulation at $80,000 and $90,000 alongside significant put curiosity at $60,000 and $55,000, signaling traders need upside publicity with out dropping hedges.
In conclusion, the agency acknowledged:
“The information factors towards a market trying to type a base. Volatility compression, enhancing sentiment metrics and more and more structured positioning recommend merchants are transitioning away from defensive panic towards conditional optimism, making ready for upside participation whereas remaining protected towards one other leg decrease.”
ETF flows nonetheless maintain the important thing to any quick transfer
If Bitcoin is to maneuver past a sluggish restoration, the exchange-traded fund market stays the clearest supply of extra demand. That can be the place the rebound case faces its greatest take a look at.
Knowledge from SoSoValue present US spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded $2.6 billion in web outflows for the reason that begin of 2026.
That marks a pointy shift from the identical interval a 12 months earlier and suggests certainly one of Bitcoin’s most seen institutional demand channels has been subtracting from momentum somewhat than including to it.
The difficulty for bullish traders will not be a single weak week. It’s the danger {that a} sustained stretch of destructive flows can restrict rallies, weaken momentum, and depart spot patrons to soak up promoting strain with out assist from one of many market’s largest sources of demand.
Nevertheless, there are early indicators that demand could also be returning.
SoSoValue knowledge present that spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted greater than $1 billion in web inflows over the past three buying and selling periods this week, whilst BTC continues to commerce in a good vary.
That represents a notable enchancment after a chronic interval of outflows.
Nonetheless, three days of inflows don’t set up a sturdy pattern, particularly if Bitcoin is to make a reputable push towards $90,000 in March.
For that to occur, the ETF market would probably want a number of extra robust periods in shut succession, sufficient to soak up overhead provide and assist create the type of suggestions loop that attracts in extra spot demand.
Even when flows enhance, $90,000 will not be a clean-air goal.
Glassnode beforehand famous that Bitcoin stays in what it referred to as a defensive part, with promoting strain nonetheless being absorbed in a $60,000 to $72,000 demand hall.
The agency additionally pointed to giant provide clusters overhead, at $82,000 to $97,000 and once more at $100,000 to $117,000. These ranges replicate the place many holders are sitting on unrealized losses and could also be extra keen to promote into reduction rallies.
In that context, $90,000 isn’t just a psychological marker. It sits inside a heavier provide band that the market would wish to work via.
Furthermore, Glassnode’s realized worth, a extensively watched proxy for the market’s mixture value foundation, was $54,614.94 as of Feb. 26.
That doesn’t indicate Bitcoin should return to that degree. Nevertheless, it reveals the space between present costs and a deeper valuation reference, which tends to attract consideration in periods of stress.
Within the close to time period, latest efforts to retake $70,000 have met seen profit-taking.
Glassnode mentioned smoothed web realized revenue and loss rose above $5 million an hour on Feb. 25 as Bitcoin climbed to a peak close to $69,400 earlier than stalling.
The agency mentioned profit-taking continued to soak up momentum across the $70,000 degree, reinforcing the image of a market recovering in a thin-liquidity atmosphere the place even modest bursts of promoting can interrupt advances.
March is filled with catalysts, not certainty
The March calendar additionally argues towards treating $90,000 as an easy name.
It is because Bitcoin will face a sequence of macroeconomic assessments that might form demand for danger property.
For context, the US jobs report for February is due March 6. The February client worth index knowledge is scheduled for launch on March 11. The Federal Reserve meets March 17-18. The January Private Revenue and Outlays report, which incorporates the PCE inflation gauge, is due March 25.
These occasions matter as a result of Bitcoin stays delicate to interest-rate expectations, inflation knowledge, and broader liquidity situations.
Reuters reported this week that the Fed is predicted to maintain its benchmark fee in a 3.50% to three.75% vary at its March assembly, as latest shifts in market expectations diminished confidence in early fee cuts.
That backdrop will not be essentially destructive for Bitcoin. But it surely additionally doesn’t present the type of clear easing sign that may make a fast climb to $90,000 look probably.
Taken collectively, these situations assist clarify the market’s cautious optimism.
Nevertheless, there’s a credible path to greater costs in March. Softer inflation knowledge, a much less restrictive tone from the Fed, a number of periods of robust ETF inflows, and additional brief protecting in derivatives might push Bitcoin sharply greater.
The March choices positioning reveals merchants see that state of affairs. Nevertheless, the continued demand for draw back safety reveals they aren’t totally satisfied.