On-chain data shows that long-term Bitcoin holders have reversed their trend recently, as their supply has absorbed $8 billion worth of tokens.
Bitcoin HODLers Have Gone Back To Net Accumulation
As explained by CryptoQuant author Axel Adler Jr in a post on X, the long-term holders have been increasing their supply recently. The “long-term holders” (LTHs) here refer to the Bitcoin investors who have held onto their coins for more than 155 days.
These holders make up one of the two main divisions of the BTC market based on holding time, with the other cohort being known as the “short-term holders” (STHs).
Statistically, the longer an investor holds onto their coins, the less likely they become to sell, so the LTHs, who tend to hold for long periods, represent the stubborn side of the market.
Generally, this group doesn’t easily sell, even during rallies or crashes, unlike the STHs. Still, this year’s rally was too good a profit-taking opportunity for even the diamond hands to miss out on.
As the below chart shared by the analyst shows, the Bitcoin LTHs sharply reduced their combined supply during the rally to the new price all-time high (ATH).
Looks like the value of the metric has been on the rise in recent weeks | Source: @AxelAdlerJr on X
The Bitcoin HODLers had slowed their selloff soon after the price had dropped, but they participated in one final batch of sharp selling when BTC observed a rebound to $68,000.
The LTH supply dropped to 14,431,517 BTC following this selling spree, but since then, these holders have reversed their behavior. The chart shows that the metric has risen to 14,557,609 BTC now, which suggests an increase of 126,092 BTC, worth a whopping $8.1 billion at the current exchange rate.
Something to remember, though, is that whenever the LTH supply registers a rise, it doesn’t mean that these diamond hands are buying in the present. Rather, the increase suggests that some buying took place five months ago, and those coins have matured enough to be a part of this group.
The same principle doesn’t apply to selling, of course, since coins see their age reset back to zero as soon as they are moved on the Bitcoin blockchain, so they are instantly removed from the LTH supply.
The recent renewal of the uptrend in the indicator could be a sign that the diamond hands have finished selling and are now back to HODLing. If this is truly the case, then the trend can naturally be a bullish sign for cryptocurrency.
BTC Price
The past day has been bearish for Bitcoin as its price has dropped by more than 3%, now floating around the $64,600 level. The chart below shows what the asset’s recent performance has looked like.
The price of the coin appears to have been going down over the last few days | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView