Bitcoin bulls ‘approaching the ceiling’ near $85K resistance with $1.69B ETF inflow streak and macro tailwinds aligned: analysts

Bitcoin is trading near $81,000 and has cleared two onchain cost basis levels that analysts consider structurally significant, but the market is now approaching what Glassnode calls the next major ceiling.

The cryptocurrency’s Active Realized Price is near $85,200. That metric tracks the cost basis of all non-dormant supply, and represents the threshold where overhead selling pressure is likely to intensify.

The two cleared levels — the True Market Mean at $78,200 and the Short-Term Holder Cost Basis at $79,100 — highlight the average acquisition price of all actively transacted supply and recent buyers over the past 155 days.

Trading above both puts the majority of active market participants back in profit, a condition historically associated with improving sentiment and reduced selling pressure, according to Glassnode’s weekly onchain report.

Spot bitcoin ETFs have reinforced that picture. The cohort recorded their fifth consecutive day of net inflows on Wednesday, drawing $46.3 million and bringing the five-day total to $1.69 billion — the longest inflow streak since July 2025, The Block reported.

The 30-day moving average of ETF net flows has also turned firmly positive after an extended period of outflows throughout the late-2025 to early-2026 drawdown, Glassnode added.

Derivatives and macro

Yet, the derivatives market tells a more complicated story.

Perpetual futures funding rates remain predominantly negative even as prices have recovered more than 26% from February lows, indicating that short sellers are still willing to pay to maintain downside exposure despite the move higher.

It’s a dynamic Glassnode characterized as the market climbing a wall of worry. A short gamma cluster of nearly $2 billion sits near the $82,000 strike, forcing dealer hedging flows to amplify moves in either direction as spot trades within that zone.

Onchain profitability has also improved, but carries weight.

Glassnode’s 30-day moving average of net realized profit and loss has flipped positive at 0.003% of market capitalization, recovering from a trough of -0.027% in mid-February.

Long-term holders are realizing approximately $180 million per day in profit. That’s a level comparable to September 2024 and well below the $1 billion-plus daily readings seen at cycle peaks, suggesting distribution remains measured rather than aggressive.

However, total realized losses across the broader market still stand at $479 million per day, roughly 140% above the $200 million baseline that characterized more stable periods of this cycle.

Glassnode said a sustained compression back below that $200 million threshold is needed to confirm selling exhaustion is taking hold.

The macro backdrop has tilted supportive as well.

Hopes of a formal U.S.-Iran peace deal — centered on a reported 14-point framework that includes a halt to Iranian nuclear enrichment and the removal of Strait of Hormuz shipping blockades — softened an energy-driven inflation premium that has weighed on risk assets for months.

According to The Block’s price page, bitcoin changed just under $80,000 during U.S. market hours. Glassnode said a break above $85,200, supported by continued spot demand and easing sell-side pressure, is required to confirm the recovery has structural legs.

“Spot demand and ETF inflows are rebuilding, suggesting bulls remain in control, but the market is now approaching a key ceiling where supply may begin to re-emerge,” Glassnode analysts wrote.

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