Bitcoin Holds Above $79,000 as ETF Inflows Soar Amid Deleveraging

Bitcoin (BTC) has maintained its price above $79,000 through the Labor Day weekend despite stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data that pushed market odds of another Federal Reserve rate hike from 50% to 60%. This resilience came alongside a sharp pullback in futures leverage and a two-day surge of $904.6 million into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, the largest single-day tally since January.

Open interest in Bitcoin futures and perpetual contracts fell 7.5% from $57.7 billion on September 3 to $53.44 billion by September 7, according to market data. Funding rates also declined from roughly 0.0035% to 0.0008% over the same stretch, signaling that traders were unwinding leveraged positions ahead of Wednesday's U.S. consumer price index report.

The simultaneous decline in both metrics suggests broad deleveraging rather than a collapse in underlying demand. Spot prices slipped only about 2% while open interest contracted at a faster pace, indicating that traders were voluntarily reducing exposure rather than being forced out of positions.