Bitcoin Apparent Demand Turns Negative as BTC Slips Below $77K

Bitcoin's onchain apparent demand indicator has flipped negative again following a brief rebound during August's rally, as BTC price dropped to a local low of $76,400 during early European trading hours on Wednesday before reclaiming the $77,000 level. The decline coincided with $236 million in net outflows from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds the prior day. According to data from CryptoQuant, the apparent demand metric, which measures the difference between newly mined issuance and changes in inactive supply, signaled that coins are aging into dormancy faster than miners are issuing them, suggesting weakening spot demand.

The sell-off extended across global markets. The US 10-year yield briefly dipped below 4.8%, providing slight relief from the bond rout reported earlier in the week. Meanwhile, inorganic price action in the USD/JPY pair at 13:00 UTC, which dropped sharply to 158.5 from the psychologically significant 160 level, sparked widespread speculation of another Bank of Japan intervention, though no official confirmation was forthcoming.

Asian equities bore the brunt of the broader risk-off sentiment. South Korea's KOSPI fell 4.0% to close at 6,562.72, with chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics declining 4% and 4.7% respectively. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 2.9% to 64,325.64, dragged lower by tech heavyweights including SoftBank Group, an OpenAI investor. Analysts attributed the steep declines to soaring oil prices and continued profit-taking in the AI sector, which spilled over into crypto markets and added pressure on Bitcoin's price action.