Bloomberg: Bitcoin ETF investors' average buy-in cost is around $84,100, currently facing a paper loss of about 8% to 9%

BlockBeats News, February 3rd. According to Bloomberg, the core issue behind the current "slow" Bitcoin sell-off is that the group of investors who were originally expected to provide strong support and serve as a stable buying pressure have not continued to enter the market. Glassnode data shows that investors entering through the U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF have an average purchase cost of around $84,100. With Bitcoin currently hovering around $78,500, this group is experiencing a paper loss of about 8%–9%.

This is not the first time ETF investors have been in an unrealized loss position. Back in November of last year, when Bitcoin briefly fell below $89,600 (which was the average cost range for ETF investors at that time), analysts pointed out that this would be a critical test of the new mainstream investors' "conviction level." Since then, with the early 2024 inflows still in profit, the overall average cost of the ETF has decreased, but latecomers to the market are now facing across-the-board losses.

Looking back from the peak, Bitcoin has fallen more than 35% from its 2025 high and briefly dropped below $77,000 in a weekend of low liquidity trading environment. Analysts believe that this is the result of multiple factors converging: drying up of inflows, reduced market liquidity, and an overall waning macro appeal. Bitcoin has failed to respond to traditional bullish factors such as USD weakness or geopolitical risks and its "decoupling" from other assets has made its trend increasingly directionless.

The key difference between the October crash and the current downturn is market sentiment: there is no panic now, only "absence." The rally in 2025 that pushed Bitcoin above $125,000 was driven by market exuberance built on regulatory prospects, institutional entry, and a bullish retail base. However, since the liquidation of billions of dollars in leveraged positions in October, those same buyers who once drove the rally have chosen to stay put and temporarily remain on the sidelines.