The Coinbase Premium Gap—a metric used to gauge institutional demand for Bitcoin relative to retail interest—has dropped to its lowest level in more than a year, pointing to possible selling by professional investors, according to an analyst.
The Coinbase Premium measures the price difference between Bitcoin trading on Coinbase’s BTC/USD pair and Binance’s BTC/USDT pair.
CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost said Thursday that when the premium turns sharply negative, it indicates Bitcoin is trading at a lower price on Coinbase Pro—an exchange favored by institutions, professionals, and high-net-worth individuals—than on Binance, which is widely used by retail traders.
“This suggests that selling pressure is intensifying on the institutional side,” Darkfost added.
“In other words, selling pressure coming from institutional players has intensified, pushing the price lower and creating a negative gap.”
Coinbase Premium Trending Lower Since October
The Coinbase Premium Gap has fallen to -167.8, its lowest level since December 2024, according to CryptoQuant.
The data shows a sustained downtrend, suggesting that “whales are continuously selling at a lower premium,” while also pointing to reduced interest and activity among investors on Coinbase, the analytics firm said.
The premium has been declining since the market downturn in mid-October, with the pace of the drop accelerating over the past week.
“The current environment is extremely challenging and highly uncertain,” the analyst said, adding that such conditions are unfavorable for risk-taking and large Bitcoin investments, particularly given BTC’s volatility and risk profile.
Spot ETFs Dump Billions in Bitcoin
CryptoQuant said in a market update on Wednesday that “institutional demand has reversed materially.”
The on-chain analytics firm noted that U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which had accumulated more than 46,000 BTC around this time last year, have turned into net sellers in 2026, offloading roughly 10,600 BTC.
That shift has created a “56,000 BTC demand gap compared with 2025,” which CryptoQuant said is adding to ongoing selling pressure in the market.
Over the past week alone, spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded $1.2 billion in outflows, as Bitcoin slid to a 15-month low below $71,000 on Thursday.
