Bitcoin grinds from $77K to $82K as spot demand absorbs pullbacks

Bitcoin spent the week grinding higher from the high-$77Ks into the low-$82Ks, with buyers continuing to absorb pullbacks even as momentum cooled near local highs. Spot CVD and spot volume both surged, signalling genuine demand rather than thin-tape drift, while futures open interest rose in parallel and perpetual CVD kept its bullish tilt.

The leverage picture is more nuanced: long-side funding payments declined into the rally, a signal that short interest is quietly building and that the bid is no longer one-sided. Options markets echo that hesitation — downside-protection demand fell, but the volatility spread widened, meaning dealers are pricing more risk than price action has actually delivered.

Why it matters

Three weeks of constructive structure is doing real work underneath the headline. Daily active addresses, entity-adjusted transfer volume and total fee volume all climbed together, a coordinated uptick that usually coincides with deeper engagement rather than a single flow spike. Realized cap change registered modest net inflows, and short-term speculative capital thinned, lowering the immediate sell-side overhang.

Profitability is the other quiet positive. The market has rotated out of unrealized losses and back into profit, yet percent supply in profit still sits below the levels historically associated with heavy distribution. In other words, holders are sitting on gains without the cohort pressure that typically marks a local top.

Market impact

The setup is constructive but not euphoric. Spot demand and on-chain activity are doing the lifting while leverage stays measured — funding cooling into price rising is a healthier signature than a chase-driven melt-up. Watch the volatility spread for a compression: if realised vol catches up to implied, the options market confirms the stabilisation narrative and clears the path for a renewed push. A break lower in spot CVD or a sudden jump in long-side funding would be the cleaner signal that the current bid is exhausting.

Source: [BTC Market Pulse: Week 20 — Glassnode Research – Digital Asset Market Intelligence](https://insights.glassnode.com/btc-market-pulse-week-20-2026/)