Bitcoin Long-term Holders Sold Over $37 Billion BTC Since July

Glassnode data shared by crypto analyst Ali Charts indicates that long-term Bitcoin holders are currently at a peak in spending on the asset. The data highlights that these holders, who acquired Bitcoin when the asset traded under $40,000, are now taking a profit.

Since July, the holders have sold 371,584 BTC worth over $37 billion. Consequently, the amount of BTC owned by long-term holders (LTH) has dropped from 14.7 million to 14.3 million.

CoinGecko data shows that the Bitcoin spending timeline coincided with the period during which the asset commenced another price rally. On July 7, Bitcoin began a price rally that would eventually take it to a $123,561 peak in August, before its current $124,774 ATH was reached on Oct. 7.

The LTHs leveraged the price uptick during this period to take profit and exit their positions in the pioneer cryptocurrency.

Multiple reports revealed that whale holders also joined in the selloff by moving significant amounts of Bitcoin to exchanges. These efforts increased selling pressure on the asset as the sales outperformed acquisitions.

The massive Bitcoin selloff followed a “Red October” triggered by a range of macroeconomic and geopolitical issues. CoinGlass data indicates that Bitcoin ended October with a 3.69% value loss for the first time in seven years. The loss, which is the first since 2018, upturned the usual “Uptober” sentiment usually expected in October.

Julio Moreno, CryptoQuant’s Head of Research, highlighted that the LTH Bitcoin sales even spiked higher in October. This suggests that the October incidents likely spooked investors, causing them to divest their holdings further.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju emphasised that Bitcoin whales have been cashing out billions since the price reached $100,000. He added that there is currently a heavy selling pressure on the asset, but this also represents a good time to buy.

Institutional Bitcoin Demand Slows Down

While coins continue to move to exchanges, institutional demand for Bitcoin has slowed sharply. CryptoQuant data shared by Moreno indicates that short-term demand for Bitcoin has been in the red zone for approximately 30 days. This signals the entrance of fewer new buyers to the market amid ongoing profit-taking efforts by LTHs.

Interestingly, net institutional purchases have fallen below the daily mining supply for the first time in seven months.

Over the past month, major institutional buyers, including Strategy and Metaplanet, as well as Bitcoin ETF issuers, have slowed their acquisitions.

Saylor Tracker’s strategy indicates that Strategy’s last 8 Bitcoin purchases since Sept. 15 have been under 1,000 BTC each. While this follows an mNAV issue with the company, it marks a decline in the adoption rate.

Similarly, demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs has weakened, as last week’s outflow totalled $1.22 billion, according to SosoValue data. Yesterday, the assets saw only $1.15 million worth of inflow, marking their lowest since July 31, 2024, when they recorded a meagre $300,000 inflow.

Meanwhile, experts speculate that the continued Bitcoin selloff will make it difficult for the asset to witness price upticks. Glassnode suggested that Bitcoin will face significant difficulty clearing the $108,000 resistance zone.

The platform noted that;

“The next key level is the 85th percentile cost basis (~$108.5K); a zone that has historically served as resistance during recovery moves.”