Bitcoin ETFs have been at the forefront of moving BTC prices but that appears to have changed recently. Instead, the latest performance reveals a more reactive approach by ETFs.
For context, Bitcoin ETF flows registered the third highest inflows observed in the last 2 weeks. It recorded $755.1 million in in inflows on 15 January. However, ETFs registered negative flows at least 4 trading days prior to that.

In an interesting turn of events, Bitcoin price action has been rallying since 13 January. Meaning ETF flows were still negative on days that price was in the green.
A sign that market demand was outweighing prevailing sell pressure from ETFs.
Bitcoin Wedge Pattern Could Restrict Price a While Longer
The surge in Bitcoin ETF flows on Wednesday may not necessarily signal more upside and this particularly evident in its price action.
BTC traded at $98,252 at press time after a 2.18% dip in the last 24 hours. This occurred after price interacted with its short term descending resistance line.

The descending resistance line is part of Bitcoin’s wedge pattern which is also underpinned by support at the $90,550 price level.
The resurge of sell pressure after encountering the resistance line signals that the recent wave of demand that included ETF flows was not strong enough to fuel a pattern breakout.
The wedge also suggests that the cryptocurrency might continue trading within this pattern well into the end of January.
Of course this is based on the assumption that no new major catalyst will occur between now and then.
Also, price could still rally from its current level and even break through the descending resistance. However, that means it would have to manifest robust demand to carry the bullish momentum.
Not only did price tank in the last 24 hours, but on-chain data revealed that there was roughly $113.76 million worth of sell pressure.
Options volume was down by 27.88% and open interest was down by 0.57% at the time of observation.
On top of that, Bitcoin exchange flows were also not in favor of the bulls. BTC had higher exchange inflows at 27,093 BTC compared to 22,160 BTC at the time of observation.

The higher exchange inflows than outflows confirmed that sell pressure outweighed prevailing demand.
Whale Activity Affirms the State of Weak Demand
Whale activity also coincided with the current state of the market which has been characterized by relatively low demand.
Whales contributed to only 1,420 BTC in terms of demand and 484 BTC worth of sell pressure on 15 January. The same day that ETFs surged.

Although large holder inflows were slightly higher than outflows, it is worth noting that whale movements cooled down considerably.
Especially compared to periods in the recent past during which large holder flows were notably higher.
The lack of robust whale participation suggests that BTC could remain confined to short term price movements. This aligns with the timeline of the wedge pattern breakout.