On February 12, following a dramatic stress test for Bitcoin, the market's top professional traders have yet to show a clear shift toward bullish sentiment, even as BTC rebounded sharply by 14% from a recent low of $60,130 and briefly touched the $72,000 level. Vatee noted that this contradictory phenomenon—where prices rebound without corresponding increases in position-building—highlights deeper uncertainties within the current macro liquidity environment.

Recent shifts in derivatives markets point to a notable cooling-off period, marked by a significant drop in leverage demand. Data shows that Binance's long/short ratio has hit a 30-day low, falling rapidly from 1.93 to 1.20. Similarly, after a wave of forced liquidations totaling $1 billion on OKX, its long/short ratio plummeted from an extreme of 4.3 to 1.7. According to Vatee, these sharp data fluctuations stem more from the systemic unwinding of previously excessive leverage than from investors actively turning bearish. In the long run, although this deleveraging process is painful, it helps establish a healthier and more resilient price foundation for the market.

At the same time, institutional capital flows offer another perspective. Vatee believes that the net inflow of $516 million into the spot ETF market on Friday has effectively halted the previous trend of outflows. Vatee indicated that the earlier outflow pressure of $2.2 billion was likely linked to the collapse of a cross-asset leveraged trade by an Asian fund using cheap yen financing. Such selling pressure, which is not inherent to the crypto market, tends to have a strong short-term impact but weak sustainability.