The crypto market has been under pressure as Bitcoin trades near $67,000 and Ethereum is held below $2,000. The pullback followed a sharp reversal in US spot Bitcoin ETF flows, fresh criticism of Ethereum’s token economics, and broader concern about inflation and geopolitical risk.
Market sentiment also stayed fragile. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index remained in the “Extreme Fear” zone on March 8, 2026, showing that traders still favored caution after several volatile sessions.
At the same time, investors are expecting the next US consumer price index report, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release on Wednesday, March 11, at 8:30 AM Eastern Time.
Bitcoin had climbed above $73,000 earlier in the week, but that move faded as institutional demand weakened and risk appetite fell. Bitcoin’s latest decline has tracked a clear shift in ETF demand.
After three straight sessions of strong inflows, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $228 million in net outflows on March 5, 2026, ending a three-day inflow streak of roughly $1.1 billion. The next session brought another $348.8 million in withdrawals, leaving total net assets near $87.07 billion after they had climbed above $94.5 billion earlier in the week. Strong inflows had helped push Bitcoin toward the low-$70,000 range earlier in the week. Once those flows reversed, the rally lost pace, and BTC returned to the mid-$60,000 area. Analysts now watch whether support near $65,000 can hold if ETF demand stays soft in the coming sessions.
Ethereum also faced renewed pressure as the token trades around $1,950 as of March 8, 2026. The weakness came with a growing debate over the network’s economics after the Fusaka upgrade, which went live on December 3, 2025. Ethereum’s own roadmap says Fusaka increased scaling capacity and introduced features tied to blob throughput and user experience. The Ethereum Foundation has described the upgrade as stable and live on the mainnet.
Even so, Culper Research, a short-selling firm, says Ethereum may be entering a “death spiral” after the Fusaka upgrade. The firm argues that block capacity grows faster than real demand, which it says leads to more low-value activity and spam on the network. It also criticizes Vitalik Buterin’s ETH sales and rejects bullish views from Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.
The firm says Fusaka weakens Ethereum’s token economics by reducing transaction fees, validator income, and staking yields. Culper also points to a rise in address-poisoning attacks, where scammers send small transactions to mislead wallet users into copying fraudulent addresses. It estimates that these attacks cause at least $87 million in losses within three months of the upgrade.
Based on that view, Culper says it is short Ether. The firm also describes ETH as a broken token and argues that holders may face weaker long-term economic value.
Macro conditions have added another layer of caution across digital assets. Investors have focused on energy markets after crude prices rose higher during the regional conflict involving Iran. Higher oil prices can complicate the inflation outlook and reduce expectations for near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts, which often pressure speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies.