Big Players Are Buying BTC.
So Why Is It Dropping?
Why Is Bitcoin Still Dropping Despite Massive Institutional Buys?
Over the past few months, major institutional players have been making significant moves into Bitcoin (BTC):
BlackRock bought $50 billion in BTC.
MicroStrategy increased its holdings to a staggering $24 billion in BTC.
El Salvador added another $500 million in BTC to its national reserves.
With this level of institutional accumulation, you’d expect Bitcoin’s price to skyrocket. Yet, BTC continues to face downward pressure. After spending over 48 hours analyzing the market dynamics, I’ve uncovered the underlying reasons why Bitcoin’s price is still underperforming — and what you can do about it.
1. Profit-Taking and Market Cycles
Institutional buying often triggers short-term profit-taking from early investors and retail traders. After a significant price surge driven by positive news, many traders opt to lock in profits, leading to sell pressure that offsets the buying momentum.
2. Futures Market Manipulation
The Bitcoin futures market plays a massive role in influencing spot prices. Large players can open short positions, creating artificial downward pressure. This strategy allows them to accumulate more BTC at lower prices while shaking out weaker hands.
3. Liquidity Drains and Macro Uncertainty
Global economic uncertainty — including rising interest rates, inflation fears, and geopolitical tensions — has pushed many investors into risk-off mode. When liquidity dries up, even large buy orders struggle to lift the market.
4. On-Chain Distribution by Whales
Despite institutional buying, on-chain data reveals that some long-term holders and whales have been distributing BTC. This creates additional sell pressure, which slows down any potential recovery.
5. ETF Rebalancing and Arbitrage
The introduction of Bitcoin ETFs has created a complex dynamic where market makers and institutional players engage in arbitrage and portfolio rebalancing. This often leads to temporary price volatility and downward pressure as funds adjust their holdings.
6. Regulatory Uncertainty
Ongoing regulatory battles, especially in the U.S., have kept some potential large-scale investors on the sidelines. Fear of future crackdowns continues to weigh on overall market sentiment.
So, What’s Next?
Despite the short-term volatility, the long-term outlook for BTC remains strong. Institutional accumulation signals long-term confidence, and once the selling pressure subsides, the market could resume its upward trajectory.
6 Must-Buy Altcoins Right Now
While Bitcoin consolidates, there’s massive opportunity in carefully selected altcoins. Here are six must-buy alts that could outperform in the next cycle:
1. Ethereum (ETH) – Layer 1 dominance and upcoming network upgrades make ETH a solid long-term play.
2. Solana (SOL) – High-speed transactions and growing ecosystem adoption position Solana as a leading competitor.
3. Chainlink (LINK) – Critical for DeFi infrastructure, LINK’s oracle network remains essential to the crypto space.
4. Avalanche (AVAX) – Fast finality and interoperability give AVAX an edge in the Layer 1 race.
5. Polkadot (DOT) – Cross-chain communication and parachain auctions make DOT a long-term bet.
6. Arbitrum (ARB) – As a leading Layer 2 solution for Ethereum, ARB benefits from scaling demand.
Final Thoughts
Bitcoin’s short-term weakness is driven by market structure and external factors — not lack of confidence. Smart money is accumulating during this dip, and strategic positioning in BTC and key altcoins could pay off as the next bull run emerges.
Stay focused, accumulate strategically, and prepare for the next market shift.
Arbitrum Devs Initiate ARB Buyback to Bolster Ecosystem Growth
On March 11, the development team behind Arbitrum, a leading rollup chain designed to enhance Ethereum’s scalability, announced the launch of an ARB token buyback program. In the announcement, the team emphasized that they are adding ARB tokens to their treasury as part of a strategic purchase plan, highlighting the ongoing growth of the ecosystem through technical advancements and DAO initiatives. Arbitrum’s team seeks to reinforce the project’s financial foundation by implementing the buyback program.
A token buyback program involves repurchasing tokens from the open market, effectively reducing the circulating supply. This mechanism can have several positive effects. By decreasing the supply, the buyback could potentially increase ARB’s value over time. Additionally, repurchased tokens can be reinvested into projects, grants, and developer incentives, fostering wider adoption within the network.
Furthermore, this long-term commitment to ARB’s values and governance not only boosts community confidence but also strengthens demand dynamics. By empowering ARB token holders with a decentralized decision-making process, the network encourages participation in protocol upgrades, changes, and treasury management, ensuring a more transparent and community-driven ecosystem.
This buyback announcement comes on the heels of ZetaChain’s recent integration of the Arbitrum testnet, marking another significant step toward enhanced cross-chain interoperability. As a Layer 1 blockchain platform, ZetaChain is designed to streamline cross-chain interactions by seamlessly connecting multiple networks.
Given Arbitrum’s reputation for high-speed and cost-efficient transaction processing, this integration allows decentralized applications (dApps) to function effortlessly across both Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks without the fragmentation or complexity associated with multi-chain architectures.
At the same time, Arbitrum’s token supply dynamics continue to play a crucial role in its market behavior. With a total supply of 10 billion ARB tokens and approximately 4.41 billion currently in circulation, the scheduled token unlocks impact ARB’s liquidity and price movement. On February 16, a major unlock event saw the release of 92.65 million ARB tokens, representing 2.10% of the circulating supply.
Another unlock event is set to take place on Sunday, with an identical 92.65 million ARB tokens scheduled for release. Notably, these token unlocks take place on the 16th of every month until April 2027, steadily increasing the circulating supply. Despite Arbitrum’s expanding ecosystem and continued adoption, the ARB token has experienced a prolonged price decline.
Over the past year, ARB has lost 83.8% of its value, with a 13.4% drop occurring in just the past week. Recently, it fell below the critical support level of $0.40, now trading at $0.3289, representing an 86.22% plunge from its all-time high of $2.39. However, despite the ongoing downtrend, its trading volume has seen a notable increase of 56.6%, reaching $301 million in the last 24 hours.

Billions are disappearing from Layer 2s… or are they?
Layer 2 TVL has dropped to $30.07B, down 19% YoY, hitting its lowest point in the past year.
Is this an actual liquidity outflow, or is TVL simply adjusting due to falling token prices?
Top 5 L2s Hold 90%+ of TVL, But All Are Down
1️⃣ @arbitrum : $11.81B (-5.86%)
2️⃣ @base : $10.39B (-6.75%)
3️⃣ @Optimism : $3.85B (-10.5%)
4️⃣ @zksync : $650.57M (-15.3%)
5️⃣ @Starknet : $487.89M (-12.7%)
Bridge Flows – Is Liquidity Leaving?
Instead of just looking at TVL, bridge inflows vs. outflows tell us whether users are actually withdrawing:
🔴 Optimism ($846M in monthly bridge volume) → Deposits exceed withdrawals, meaning its TVL drop is mostly market-driven.
🟡 Mode ($12.83M in monthly bridge volume) → Deposits exceed withdrawals, showing net liquidity inflow.
💙 🧡 Arbitrum ($4.85B in monthly bridge volume) → Consistently net negative flows since January, withdrawals exceeding deposits.
Arbitrum’s Outflows – A Cause for Concern?
• January 2025: -$445M net outflow
• February 2025: -$444M net outflow
• March 2025 (so far): -$124M net outflow
Arbitrum has seen consistent net outflows since December 2024, but are withdrawals excessively large relative to deposits?
→ Withdrawals are only ~6-10% larger than deposits—not insignificant, but not a collapse either.
→ Deposits remain high, meaning capital is still flowing into Arbitrum despite steady net outflows.
→ This looks more like capital rotation than a liquidity crisis.
Token Dependency – Why TVL is declining
A significant portion of L2 TVL is in non-stable assets, meaning its value fluctuates with the market. Here’s how much of each rollup’s TVL is NOT stablecoins:
• Arbitrum: 51.74% (ARB + ETH + Others)
• Optimism: 81.84% (OP + ETH + Others)
• zkSync Era: 77.94% (ZK + ETH + Others)
• Starknet: 87.32% (STRK + ETH + Others)
• Base: 56.14% (ETH + Others)
Since TVL is not just stablecoins, its decline is largely a result of token price depreciation rather than capital outflows.
Key Takeaways
• TVL decline ≠ mass liquidity exit. Most of the drop is due to token price depreciation, not heavy withdrawals.
• Over half of TVL in major L2s is NOT in stablecoins, meaning price fluctuations have an outsized impact.
• The top 5 rollups hold over 90% of TVL, making their movements critical for overall trends.
• Arbitrum is seeing sustained outflows since January, but not at crisis levels.
What’s Next?
• If withdrawals accelerate, L2s may need stronger incentives to retain liquidity.
• If deposits recover, it confirms capital rotation rather than an ecosystem-wide exit.
For now, this is more about market sentiment than an L2 liquidity crisis.