$BTC third rejection at $73K is starting to look less like weakness and more like setup. Tape: +2.69% on the day, high $73,155, low $70,929. Spot bid from BlackRock IBIT (+$269M, best inflow day since early March) into a cool core CPI print (+0.2% MoM). Here's the part nobody's pricing: funding on Binance perps sits NEGATIVE while BTC presses highs. Retail long/short ratio at 0.85 — shorts outnumber longs on a tape that's up nearly 3%. A rally with a net-short book is exactly how squeeze fuel builds. Counter: old whales offloaded $271M this week and we're still below the $73K line.
Three swings, zero daily close above. Bulls need a clean daily >$73.2K to flip this from "triple top" into "ascending base." Game plan: $70.9K is invalidation, $73.2K is the trigger. Until one breaks, this is a range — not a thesis. The guys leaning short here are the exit liquidity if it pops. NFA. Stay frosty.