Bitcoin’s Demand Reversal Sparks Bullish Momentum as Price Nears $86K

Bitcoin’s “apparent demand” has flipped from negative to positive for the first time in 2025, signaling growing accumulation by investors.

With the cryptocurrency hovering near $86,000 and its market dominance surpassing 60%, analysts are debating whether this marks the start of a fresh rally toward all-time highs.

A Breakout in the Making

After weeks of choppy movement and bearish undertones, BTC reversed its apparent demand, a metric used by CryptoQuant to track the 30-day net difference between exchange inflows and outflows.

The metric had been negative for months, but the change to positive prompted popular YouTube analyst Crypto Rover to describe it as “bullish.” A reversal often implies fresh accumulation pressure, and historically, it has heralded surging runs, including Bitcoin’s 2020-2021 rally, which sent the number one cryptocurrency climbing to $67,000.

The timing of this shift has been made even more notable, given the current macroeconomic context. Analysts have pointed to inflationary concerns, as well as the recent cooling down of global trade tensions following a temporary U.S. tariff pause (except for China), as factors that may be pushing institutions back into BTC.

Adding fuel to the bullish fire is Bitcoin’s technical behavior. On April 15, prominent trader Doctor Profit noted that BTC was once again challenging the psychologically significant resistance at $98,000, levels not seen since early February. “Big bull party once we breakout,” he declared on X, echoing widespread trader sentiment that a decisive move above this ceiling could open the door for another parabolic push upward.

Meanwhile, analyst Miles Deutscher highlighted the asset’s breakout from a descending triangle, the first of its kind this year and one that usually comes before a strong vertical reversal.

Market Outlook

Trading at around $85,800 at the time of this writing, BTC is up 8.7% in the last seven days and a more modest 1.5%  over the past 24 hours.

Its trajectory has been volatile but resilient, especially considering that after dropping under $75,000 at the height of trade tensions last week, it rebounded on the back of improved U.S. CPI data and easing geopolitical concerns to touch $86,000.

The momentum has slowed down slightly, with BTC still 21% off its all-time high. Nonetheless, on-chain data from pseudonymous analyst Titan of Crypto points to a bullish RSI divergence that has now played out, with the king cryptocurrency closing in on a critical price target of $87,000. According to the trader, a daily close above $85,700 will increase the likelihood of continued upward movement.