Since 2023 began, Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH) have for the first time ever shown negative net position changes, with a combined total of -$3 billion over the past three days. This trend marks a pivotal moment for the two flagship cryptocurrencies, as their movement is supposedly indicative of a new phase in investor behavior and sentiment. In what is supposed to be leading us into 2024, recent downturns aside, the crypto space in general and Bitcoin’s grail-like prospects in particular seem less and less affected by the naysayers who keep saying this space is living on borrowed time. For the first time since 2023, #Bitcoin $BTC and #Ethereum $ETH show negative net position changes, totaling -$3 billion over the last three days. pic.twitter.com/XOO7x01Opd — Ali (@ali_charts) March 21, 2025 Bitcoin Sentiment Takes a Negative Turn In the past week, there has been a significant drop in the on-exchange balance of Bitcoin. Around 10,000 BTC have been moved off of exchanges. This is one of the signs—I would certainly consider it a major sign—of growing investor confidence. It seems our long-term holder base keeps on increasing as more and more SATs are taken off exchanges and stowed away for safekeeping. Around 10,000 #Bitcoin $BTC were moved off exchanges this week! Often a sign of growing investor confidence and long-term holding behavior. pic.twitter.com/8pH3uuVART — Ali (@ali_charts) March 21, 2025 But even as this sign was coming to light, or perhaps because this sign was coming to light, the vibe in the market has taken a turn for the worse. Bitcoin’s all-time high (ATH) last year sent investors into a state of euphoria and pushed the price of the cryptocurrency to levels that had never been seen before. Yet, in the aftermath of the ATH, unease has set in. It is now many seem to view (and vote) with a more cautious tilt toward the future of Bitcoin. This sea change in sentiment toward the world’s largest cryptocurrency can be seen in the Bitcoin Sentiment Vote—up or down. The current quarterly sentiment ratio now has Bitcoin back at the levels seen last September. It was last September when the price of Bitcoin was considered by many to be much too low. We all know what happened after that. After reaching its all-time high (ATH), investors and traders began to take a predominantly negative view of Bitcoin’s future prospects. This is clearly reflected in the Bitcoin Sentiment Vote – Up or Down chart. Currently, the quarterly sentiment ratio has returned to levels… pic.twitter.com/UKGgm113iB — Axel Adler Jr (@AxelAdlerJr) March 21, 2025 Regardless of the dip in sentiment, Bitcoin is still a bastion for long-term holders. These holders have not gone anywhere. It is almost ironic that these secure storage places (i.e. by the holders) should function as the kinds of Bitcoin-adopting silos that the Bitcoin community once fretted about. Anyway, that’s how things have played out. Para-masochism here has gone along with a public mental health en-route to Bitcoin. Ethereum Follows Bitcoin’s Negative Sentiment The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum is experiencing a change in investor outlook. The negative net-position change for Ethereum—an amount that indicates a substantial loss over the last three days—underscores the increasing caution around the two leading digital assets. We’ve seen large movements in liquidity for both Bitcoin and Ethereum, but Ethereum’s market sentiment is trending toward bearishness. Different factors have impacted the outlook of Ethereum’s future, not least its recent move to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus with the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. While this may have largely been taken as a given and something supposedly to be priced into Ethereum by now, the transition has yet to positively impact the ratio of Ethereum to Bitcoin, let alone catapult any significant amount of capital into Ethereum’s market cap. Moreover, the reasons for pricing Ethereum more positively in relation to Bitcoin remain unconvincing. Even with these difficulties, Ethereum—and Bitcoin, for that matter—remains in the good graces of a solid, loyal base of investors. They see potential in the long-term evolution of the ecosystem that is Ethereum. But the shift in sentiment that some have detected regarding Ethereum is, quite frankly, not good. It suggests that in the minds of many investors, the futures of Bitcoin and Ethereum are no longer seen as being intimately tied together. Positive Inflows Into Bitcoin Spot ETFs Although investor sentiment seems to be shifting to a negative outlook in the current markets for Bitcoin and Ethereum, there’s still a solid interest in Bitcoin that continues to grow in other types of investment vehicles. Most notably, on March 20, Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, saw a large net inflow of $166 million, with BlackRock’s Bitcoin spot ETF, IBIT, leading the charge and enjoying an impressive single-day net inflow of $172 million. These inflows indicate that institutional interest in Bitcoin is quite high and that retail investor sentiment is more subdued, if not negative. For that reason, the recent growth of Bitcoin spot ETFs is important. This new vehicle allows all kinds of investors—particularly institutional ones—to gain exposure to Bitcoin. Spot ETFs offer a way to invest in Bitcoin without actually holding the asset itself. And in several key spots around the world, they further legitimize Bitcoin as an asset class. On March 20, the total net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs was $166 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest single-day net inflow yesterday was BlackRock's IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of $172 million. Ethereum spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $12.4093 million… — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 21, 2025 The demand for Bitcoin ETFs shows that institutional interest in digital assets is growing. These products are regulated better than most crypto products. They are offered by entities that have to play by the rules, which makes them safer for big counterparty investors. Retail investors may not be too bullish on Bitcoin right now. On the other hand, institutions keep plowing into it. That’s because they operate in a world where price signals are way more important than what retail traders are signaling. Conclusion: Shifting Sentiment but Long-Term Confidence Remains Over the past three days, sentiment appears to have shifted regarding Bitcoin and Ethereum. Both cryptocurrencies have experienced a not-so-pleasant net position change, to the tune of $3 billion, between them. While this would seem to indicate that investors are becoming more cautious, it is worth noting that those same investors have been in the process of taking their cryptocurrencies off of exchanges and placing them into cold storage. Ethereum, too, finds itself subject to a similar sentiment change, but its technological advances and potential uses may provide some hope for a recovery. What inflows there are into Bitcoin spot ETFs suggest that institutional interest in the cryptocurrency remains quite robust, even as retail sentiment has turned distinctly more negative. As we move forward, the real question is how these sentiment shifts will influence the long-run movement of both Bitcoin and Ethereum. At present, while the immediate outlook might be more ambiguous, institutional interest and the long-term potential of both Bitcoin and Ethereum remain substantial. The next several months could yield vital clues about how these matters will play out and whether a sentiment shift in the wake of these recent events will be more positive. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any projects. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news ! Image Source: promesaartstudio/ 123RF // Image Effects by Colorcinch
