Bitcoin feels lack of ETF flows as Ether price fights to reclaim $3K

Bitcoin treads water while Ether price strength takes over, helping the largest altcoin challenge the $3,000 mark for the first time in nearly two years.

Bitcoin (BTC) dipped to intraday lows on Feb. 20 as a public holiday in the United States limited buy demand.

Bitcoin extends sideways action

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked a BTC price floor of $51,329 on Bitstamp.

An otherwise flat start to the week ended in cold feet for BTC/USD after the Feb. 19 daily close, but a recovery subsequently took the market back to $52,000.

Wall Street was closed the day prior thanks to the President’s Day holiday, meaning that no new inflows into the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were recorded.

As Cointelegraph continues to report, these inflows have consistently buoyed market sentiment in recent weeks, creating a positive feedback loop as others attempt to “front run” institutions by buying BTC in advance.

In recent commentary on X, trading resource Material Indicators suggested that the long weekend would allow BTC price action to “simmer down a bit” after recent rapid gains.

Ahead of the intraday dip, another post laid out potential lower targets should bears gain the upper hand.

“If Bitcoin doesn’t bounce from here, consider the door to $51k opened, and if that doesn’t hold, look to $50k then $48.6k for the next levels of support,” Material Indicators explained.

“If those don’t hold, things could get very exciting in the short term. Long term outlook is unchanged.”

An accompanying chart showed BTC/USDT order book liquidity on Binance.

Ether hits levels absent for nearly 2 years

Meanwhile, the comparatively lackluster performance of Bitcoin shifted attention to the largest altcoin, Ether (ETH).

Related: Hopefuls call for ‘altseason’ led by Ether rally, analysts not so sure

Ether price action continued prior strength into the start of the week, with ETH/USD hitting new 22-month highs of $2,984 on Bitstamp.

“This is still a massive period to be rotating from Bitcoin towards Ethereum,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm MNTrading, wrote in part of an X reaction.

“The upward momentum is continuing in Ethereum, not in Bitcoin.”

$ETH 1D
clean HH close after reclaiming HTF resistance ($2.7K – $2.8K)

Weekly open always a good opportunity area, else structural HL dips are for buying imo

alts still have a ton of opportunity from here assuming BTC remains strong after 1W close https://t.co/Hi9IeNcZ0w pic.twitter.com/3odOWYNL31

— Skew Δ (@52kskew) February 20, 2024

Continuing, popular trader Skew argued that altcoins, in general, looked promising for traders but that Bitcoin should nonetheless maintain strength on weekly timeframes.

“Alts still have a ton of opportunity from here assuming BTC remains strong after 1W close,” he summarized in part of his latest X analysis.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.