The Bitcoin price climbed back above<\/a> $71,000 over the weekend, extending<\/a> its rebound after one of the sharpest sell-offs of the cycle sent the price briefly plunging toward $60,000 earlier this week.<\/p>\n The recovery comes as institutional investors appear to be treating sub-$70,000 bitcoin as a renewed buying opportunity, even while retail traders search for signs the market has reached a bottom.<\/p>\n Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said in a CNBC interview that bitcoin\u2019s pullback is landing differently with large investors than with long-time holders.<\/p>\n \u201cI think long-time holders are feeling unsure,\u201d Horsley said<\/a>. \u201cAnd I think the new investor set, institutions are sort of getting a new crack at the apple.\u201d<\/p>\n Horsley added that some institutional buyers are now seeing price levels they believed they had permanently missed, as bitcoin gets \u201cswept up\u201d in a broader macro-driven selloff across liquid risk assets.<\/p>\n While institutions have been stepping in, retail participants have been scanning the market for confirmation that the sell-off has fully exhausted itself.<\/p>\n Sentiment platform Santiment said<\/a> in a weekend report that retail traders are \u201cmeta-analyzing\u201d the downturn, looking for proof that others are quitting before re-entering the market \u2014 behavior that often emerges near market lows.<\/p>\n \u201cRetail traders are trying to meta-analyze the market, looking for signs of others quitting to time their own entries,\u201d Santiment wrote.<\/p>\n Google Trends data reflects the spike in attention. Worldwide searches for \u201cBitcoin\u201d hit a score of 100 for the week starting Feb. 1 \u2014 the highest level in the past 12 months \u2014 as bitcoin\u2019s price whipsawed from above $81,000 down to $60,000 before rebounding.<\/p>\n Searches for the term \u201ccrypto capitulation\u201d also surged, rising from 11 to 58 in the week ending Feb. 8.<\/p>\n Adding to all this, ProCap Financial CIO Jeff Park suggested<\/a> bitcoin price\u2019s next major bull-market catalyst may not come from Federal Reserve rate cuts \u2014 but from bitcoin\u2019s ability to rise even in a tightening environment.<\/p>\n Park described a scenario where the bitcoin price climbs alongside higher interest rates as the asset\u2019s \u201choly grail,\u201d challenging traditional assumptions about liquidity and the global monetary system.<\/p>\nRetail traders are searching for a signal<\/h2>\n
Federal Reserve cuts are coming for the bitcoin price<\/h2>\n
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