Asia Market Update: BTC Breaks New Records Amid Lack of Selling Pressure

Asia Morning Briefing: Bitcoin Soars to New Record With Sellers Nowhere in Sight

Bitcoin has smashed through its previous all-time high, trading above $115,300 as Asia wakes to a roaring crypto market, CoinDesk data shows.

Unlike past bull runs, this surge isn’t triggering a rush to sell. A new report from CryptoQuant reveals that even as BTC climbed past $112,200 on Wednesday, selling activity has remained remarkably subdued.

“Bitcoin selling pressure remains low despite the price reaching a fresh all-time high,” the report noted. The amount of BTC moving into exchanges has plunged to just 18,000 coins per day — the lowest since April 2015 — suggesting fewer traders are eager to cash out.

It’s not only retail traders holding tight. Institutional-sized wallets moving 100 BTC or more have scaled back drastically, with daily exchange transfers dropping from 62,000 BTC in November 2024 to just 7,000 BTC now.

Similar trends are playing out in other tokens. Ethereum (ETH) exchange inflows have fallen from 1.57 million in February to 584,000 today — a shift coinciding with ETH’s 87% rally since April.

XRP whales have also stepped aside, reducing daily inflows by 85% to just 169 million tokens. Even smaller altcoins are seeing lighter activity, with daily inflow transactions falling to 21,000 from 120,000 during previous market peaks, underlining what CryptoQuant calls a “low-pressure environment.”

Bottom line? This is no typical market top. Instead, it’s a rally marked by confident holders unwilling to part with their assets.

For now, it’s firmly HODLing season.

Bitcoin Leapfrogs Google in Market Value

Bitcoin now ranks as the world’s sixth-largest asset, trading around $115,595 and commanding a market cap of $2.298 trillion. It has overtaken Alphabet (Google) and is edging closer to Amazon’s $2.359 trillion valuation.

Earlier this year, BTC briefly surpassed Amazon after reaching $109,400. Although prices cooled off afterward, strong macro tailwinds and institutional buying have fueled a new ascent, pushing bitcoin back into the top-tier asset ranks.

A key driver behind this renewed strength: spot bitcoin ETFs. After suffering over $4.3 billion in net outflows during February and March, the tide turned in May with $5.23 billion in net inflows, followed by $4.6 billion in June and another $1.18 billion so far in July. Altogether, cumulative net inflows have surpassed $50 billion, according to SoSoValue.

With total assets in bitcoin ETFs approaching $140 billion, institutional participation is no longer just a narrative — it’s fundamentally transforming crypto markets. The next psychological target? Dethroning Amazon and closing in on tech giants like Apple ($3.17 trillion) and Microsoft ($3.72 trillion).

Market Snapshot

• Bitcoin (BTC): Soared past $116,000 on Thursday, setting a new all-time high and nearly doubling in price over the past year. Nearly $950 million in short positions were liquidated, the largest single-day purge of bearish bets in 2025, CoinGlass reports.
• Ethereum (ETH): Jumped to nearly $3,000, the highest in over four months, boosted by strong ETF demand, growing tokenization interest, and corporate treasury adoption.
• Gold: Has dipped roughly 4% since peaking at $3,432.56 on June 13, recently trading around $3,294.71. Some see the pullback as an opportunity, forecasting gold could reach $4,000 sooner than anticipated.
• Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific equities traded mixed Friday after President Trump imposed new 35% tariffs on Canadian goods and signaled further broad tariffs of 15–20% on key trading partners.
• S&P 500: U.S. stocks closed at fresh records Thursday, driven by gains in Nvidia and bitcoin, with the S&P 500 finishing at 6,280.46 and the Nasdaq logging a second consecutive all-time high, even as new tariff threats loomed.

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