Repeated Bitcoin profit taking near $77K suggests rally is losing steam

Bitcoin stalled below $77,000 after repeated short-term profit taking capped rallies and pressured upside toward $80,000. Short-term holders moved roughly 150,000 BTC to exchanges since April 15, with three sessions seeing 65k, 54.6k and 39k BTC flows that likely created overhead supply. Spot trading volumes have contracted sharply—Binance down about $25 billion, Gate.io about $13 billion and OKX about $6 billion—bringing activity to levels last seen in September 2023. Futures metrics show weakening participation: seven‑day open interest averaged ~292,000 BTC (down from >300,000), with ~8,000–9,000 BTC of leverage removed in the past 10 days. While short-term liquidation indicators briefly moved positive (seven‑day oscillator +28.7) and 24‑hour liquidations hit ~$604 million, the article argues a sustainable rally would require renewed spot volume and rising open interest to bring fresh capital rather than forced futures closures.