Data on the chain shows that Bitcoin spot volume has shown stability recently, while the rest of the cryptocurrency sector has seen a decline.
Altcoins have noted a decline in Spot activity since late January
As blockchain analytics firm Glassnode noted in a recent post on X, Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market have diverged in terms of spot trading volume.
“Spot trading volume” is a metric that, as the name suggests, measures the total amount of a given asset involved in trading activity in the spot markets.
When the value of this indicator increases, it means that more cryptocurrencies are traded on spot exchanges. Such a trend could be a sign that business interest in the coin is increasing.
On the other hand, a metric that sees a decline suggests that investor interest may be shifting away from the asset as spot trading volume tends to decline.
Now, here’s a chart shared by Glassnode that shows the 7-day average value trend of spot trading volume for Bitcoin, along with the top 500 digital assets:
The two metrics appear to have diverged in recent months | Source: Glassnode on X
As seen in the graph above, cumulative spot volume for the top 500 cryptocurrencies has declined since last October. This decline in business activity coincided with a decline in the market. In general, periods of consolidation or bearish action tend to scare investors away, so the latest trend may come as no surprise.
But interestingly, the trend behind spot volume is just Bitcoin. As you can see from the chart, the core cryptocurrency initially followed other industries, but in February saw a surge in volume, including a huge spike that coincided with a sharp decline in asset prices.
The fact that BTC recently broke apart suggests that altcoins were behind the continued decline in the overall spot volume of the top 500 cryptocurrencies.
In some other news, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US have seen a boost in demand, as Glassnode discussed in its latest weekly report.
How the netflows of the US spot ETFs have fluctuated over the past year | Source: Glassnode's The Week Onchain - Week 10, 2026
As shown in the chart, US Bitcoin ETFs have seen their weekly flows turn positive after a period of net outflows. The analyst firm explained:
While it is too early to confirm a structural change in demand, the continuation of positive ETF flow indicates an improvement in institutional sentiment and could re-establish ETFs as an important source of comprehensive market support.
BTC price
Bitcoin has weakened after retracing the $70,000 level as its price is still trading around $70,400.
The trend in the price of the coin over the last five days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
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