The United States has recently emerged as a more important player in the digital asset economy.
Data from Kaiko Research shows that the share of global spot trading on US exchanges has almost doubled in a year, from 8% to 15%. This growth reflects more than just higher trading volumes.
It indicates that traders are increasingly turning to platforms that offer deeper liquidity, meaning large trades can be executed with less impact on prices.
While offshore exchanges still handle the largest total trading volumes, market depth is now improving faster on US platforms. Remarkable, this This shift is increasing competition between offshore exchanges and the growing US crypto infrastructure.
With the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approving perpetual futures markets for companies like Coinbase in 2025, the US is now challenging offshore dominance in derivatives trading.
On-chain metrics and ETF analysis
While headlines highlight Bitcoin [BTC] trade almost $74,000, the bigger story lies in what happens behind the scenes.
Recent data from CryptoQuant shows that Bitcoin exchange net flows are around –3.1K BTC, meaning more coins are leaving exchanges than entering.
When investors take Bitcoin off the exchange and move it into private wallets or cold storage, it usually indicates long-term holdings rather than short-term trading. This also reduces the amount of Bitcoin available for immediate sale, which can tighten supply and cause prices to react more strongly when new buyers enter the market.
Institutional demand has been a key driver of this trend. Since March 9, US Spot Bitcoin ETFs have risen consistently included inflows, including approximately $199.4 million on March 17 alone. This steady demand is supporting the market by absorbing the selling pressure that cautious retailers, still wary after recent volatility, are unwilling to take on.
Liquidation clusters would decide Bitcoin’s next move
However, the derivatives market tells a more complicated story.
Glassnode’s liquidation heatmap for the Binance BTC/USDT pair reveals large clusters of leveraged positions between $80,000 and $90,000, which could act as liquidity magnets and trigger a short squeeze if Bitcoin moves higher.
This could force traders betting against the price to buy back Bitcoin and potentially push the price higher. However, it is important to note that a large liquidation zone around $55,000-$60,000 could provide support if the market falls.
Market in fear or greed?
At the same time, market sentiment is slowly improving. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has emerged from the ‘Extreme Fear’ level and was in the Fear zone at 26 at the time of writing.
While investors are still cautious, this marks a recovery from the deep market turmoil in February.
A recent analysis from AMBCrypto confirms this sentiment and shows that Bitcoin holders are once again playing an important role in shaping the market in the long term. In fact, the current level of long-term investment is close to a four-year high, comparable to the accumulation phase at the end of 2022.
Several market signals also aligned on March 17, when Bitcoin was trading around $74,057, indicating that bearish pressure may be weakening.
Taken together, these signals indicate that the current market move may be more than just a temporary recovery. After months of uncertainty, the market balance could finally shift, with buyers slowly taking control.
Final summary
- Traders are increasingly moving to platforms with deeper liquidity, where large trades can take place with less price impact.
- Large liquidation clusters between $80,000 and $90,000 could impact Bitcoin’s next big move.