[Analysis] Coinbase premium hits lowest level in a year… “Institutional selling pressure intensifies”

The Coinbase premium indicator, which reflects US demand for Bitcoin (BTC), has recently fallen to its lowest level in the past year.

Darkfost, a CryptoQuant contributor, said on X on the 5th (local time), “This is the first time since the beginning of the year that the Coinbase premium has dropped into such deeply negative territory as it has recently.” The Coinbase premium is an indicator showing the price gap for Bitcoin between Coinbase and major global exchanges. Typically, when the indicator is negative, it is interpreted as a phase in which buying demand in the US market is relatively weak or selling pressure is dominant.

According to CryptoQuant, the Coinbase premium was tallied at -167.8 as of that day, the lowest level since December 2024. Darkfost analyzed that “this means the Bitcoin price on Coinbase Pro, mainly used by institutions, professional investors, and high-net-worth individuals, was formed lower than on Binance, where retail investors account for a larger share,” adding that “institution-driven selling pressure appears to have pushed it into negative territory.”

He also mentioned market uncertainty. Darkfost said, “The market is currently in an environment with very high uncertainty,” adding that “given Bitcoin remains highly volatile and classified as a risk asset, meaningful new investment inflows into Bitcoin are likely to be constrained.”