The Bear’s Bet Grows to $520M

18.03.25 03:14 AM By Stormrake

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A quiet start to the week, with no notable events shaking up the crypto markets—a welcome change considering the chaos of the last few months. Bitcoin is up 1.8% over the last 24 hours, with the rest of the market showing some green too. But what’s happening with the bear in the short position?

Yesterday’s morning note showed the bear’s position worth $460 million, sitting on nearly $6 million in unrealised gains. Today, the bear hunters are closing in. Not only has the bear increased the position size to $520 million, but it’s no longer in any unrealised profits. Instead, the bear is now down $122,623.13 in unrealised losses, with an average entry of $83,898. The liquidation level remains at $85,564—less than 2% away. Meanwhile, the funding costs for this position continue to mount and are nearing $500k. The longer this position stays open, the larger those costs will grow.

Bitcoin is still trading within the $81.6k–$85.2k range. It’s now been over a week since we first fell into this zone, with no successful attempt to sustain a move back above the top. Could Powell’s upcoming presser in a couple of days provide the breakout the market needs?

Altcoin News: Sui’s ETF Boost, Ethereum’s Sentiment Slump

One of our favourite altcoins, Sui, has received a spot ETF filing from Canary Capital, giving it an extra boost today—up 6%.

Meanwhile, Ethereum’s sentiment has turned extremely negative, reflected in its price action. To make matters worse, Standard Chartered Bank has slashed its year-end price target for ETH by a massive 60%, dropping from $10,000 to $4,000.

Stormrake Spotlight: Ripple (XRP) ($2.34)

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency is back in the Stormrake Spotlight… After a massive November rally, XRP has been stuck in a wide range between $2–$3, with only brief deviations beyond it. Currently, it’s trading in the lower half of the range, showing bearish momentum and a bearish structure.

XRP is facing resistance at the 21 and 55 EMAs, as well as key monthly CPR levels. If it can form a higher low above $1.89, it could be the first sign of bulls reclaiming control.

BTC/USD Key Levels and Price Action:

Bitcoin has flipped momentum back to the bulls but remains in an overall neutral structure. A higher low was formed last night, but the rally that followed quickly topped out, creating another lower high—further reinforcing the neutral stance.

BTC Total ETF Flows for 17 Mar: $ + 105.0 million

(ETF flow data is sourced from https://farside.co.uk/btc/ and reflects figures at the time of writing.)
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*All prices are denominated in USD unless stated otherwise*

Written by Alexandar Artis

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