Bitcoin Price News: BTC Eyes $85K as ETF Inflows and Traders’ Interest Rise

Bitcoin (BTC) is the best-performing asset in the top 5 in the past month, with gains of nearly 12%.

The top crypto has managed to stay above $80,000 and squeezed bears recently after hitting $82,250 earlier this week.

However, trading volumes remain thin as market participants are still skeptical about the nature of this rally.

Macroeconomic conditions remain a bit unfavorable, as analysts no longer expect a rate cut this year by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Chairman Kevin Warsh will replace his long-tenured predecessor, Jerome Powell, this month, and analysts are still waiting to see how dovish this new head of the Fed will actually be.

Meanwhile, the situation in the Middle East remains tense, as the U.S. has threatened to bomb Iran once again if they don’t make a deal and negotiate the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz soon.

Even though the price of oil has retreated below $100 recently, geopolitical tensions are still at a high point, which explains why the Crypto Fear and Greed Index is still sitting at Neutral territory at 48.

Open Interest of Bitcoin Recovers as Sentiment Improves

Sentiment has been progressively improving in the crypto market, as open interest (OI) for Bitcoin futures has been increasing lately

According to data from CoinGlass, BTC’s open interest (in USD) has picked up from a low of $43 billion in early March to $64 billion earlier this week for a 49% jump.

Even though the metric is still sitting 31% below its all-time high of $93 billion from October 2025, this is a remarkable improvement and, potentially, an early sign that traders are positioning for further price upticks.

Moreover, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have brought in positive net inflows for five days in a row. In total, investors have poured $1.7 billion into these vehicles, reflecting growing confidence in their price outlook.

These two metrics are providing solid evidence that sentiment is turning around. Hence, even though the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape is a bit unfavorable, we could expect a strong recovery for crypto assets if BTC manages to climb above the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA).

Whales Have Bought 10,000 BTC in May

Last month, we reported that whales added over 50,000 BTC tokens to their stash, meaning approximately $4 billion invested into the asset. Paired with rising ETF inflows and growing interest from speculators, this ongoing accumulation could be creating a strong short-term floor for the top crypto.

So far this month, whales have kept adding BTC. Data from Santiment indicates that they have bought 10,000 BTC tokens worth approximately $750 million. Wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 tokens were the ones that accumulated the most, adding 20,000 tokens to their reserves in just 8 days.

If this trend continues, we could soon see BTC rising past the $85,000 mark. This should kick off a strong rally for the top crypto as bears will get squeezed out if the price breaks past the 200-day EMA.

The move could also spark some FOMO among retail traders and further increase open interest (OI) in the futures market. For a bull market to start, we need both whales and speculators to get on board.

Bitcoin Will Soon Face a Make-or-Break Moment

Earlier this year, when we drafted our 2026 Bitcoin price prediction, we anticipated a much bigger drop to $58,000 in the near term based on historical patterns.

A bearish breakout below the 50-week EMA provided a strong sell signal that previously plunged BTC by 62%.

However, we believe we have now hit our cycle bottom at around $65,000, meaning that this correction was far less dramatic if that turned out to be the case. That EMA breakout led to a 36% drop this time.

We are about to retest the 50-week EMA from below. This is a critical make-or-break moment for what still qualifies as a relief rally.

We need BTC to rise past this mark in the next few weeks. Otherwise, a rejection of a move above that line, which currently sits at $85,700, could result in the continuation of BTC’s downtrend toward that initial $58,000 target.

Just to clarify, that is not our base scenario for now, but we’ll have to wait for the price to retest that level and see how things go before jumping to conclusions. Hence, we still expect a 6% gain ahead for BTC to reach that $85K near-term target.

As we have also shared in previous Bitcoin price predictions, we spotted a historical buy signal in the Relative Strength Index (RSI) that has yielded positive results in the past. Whenever the RSI drops below 30, the price tends to recover strongly and rally to a new all-time high around 12 to 24 months later.

This pattern has repeated three times already in the past 12 years, and the situation right now for the crypto market is not as bad as to justify sustained bearish sentiment. Even though social volumes are sitting at low levels, this is normal for bear markets.

The smart money is creeping in, whales are accumulating, ETF inflows are getting stronger, and traders are starting to show up again. All of these factors play in favor of a bullish outlook for BTC in the mid-term.

BTC Retreats After Hitting 200D EMA, But Bullish Momentum Persists

Heading to the daily chart, we finally hit the 200-day EMA and completed a reversion to the mean move. The price just retreated after hitting this line, which is perfectly normal.

We may actually see BTC dropping to $77,000 again, as the selling pressure at this level will likely be high. We recently shared a trading opportunity based on this scenario, with an entry set at that support area and a target set at $85,000.

That trade would yield a 3x return if the stop price is set at $74,500. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) in this time frame is sitting at 61, meaning that bullish momentum is still strong.

If the price bounces off $77,000, we expect a bullish breakout of the 200-day EMA, which could result in a massive short squeeze that propels BTC to $85K or even higher.