Bitcoin Veteran Investors Hold Firm As Sell-Side Activity Declines – An End To Distribution?

On Monday, Bitcoin set its course to reach the $90,000 price mark once again, but this move was brief as the flagship asset quickly lost the level and experienced a pullback. Despite the fluctuating price action, selling pressure seems to have reduced, and accumulation is gradually gaining traction.

Selling Pressure From Bitcoin Long-Term Holders Eases

Even with ongoing heightened volatility hampering the Bitcoin price movement, bullish sentiment is returning among veteran investors or long-term holders. These key investors seem to be shifting gears again a report shows that selling pressure from the group has noticeably dropped.

This report from Darkfost, a market expert and CryptoQuant’s author, challenges the ongoing notion that long-term BTC holders are selling their coins more than ever. “While we still see many posts claiming that LTHs are selling more than ever, the reality is quite different,” the expert stated.

Bitcoin long-term holders here indicate wallet addresses that have held the coin for more than 6 months. Meanwhile, wallet addresses holding for less than 6 months are considered short-term holders.

Darkfost conducted the research by adjusting the chart to isolate the movement of nearly 800,000 BTC from Coinbase, which was distorting long-term holder data. As viewed in the LTH Supply Change 30d Sum (Coinbase Fix) metric, the chart shows a clear shift in supply change.

According to the data, the supply change in the monthly time frame has been firmly anchored in a distribution phase since July 16, until recently. In other words, the share of supply held by long-term holders had been in a steady decline for several months.

The shift suggests that these investors are now more likely to stick with their positions, indicating a resurgence of conviction in the larger trend of Bitcoin. Furthermore, it comes at a critical juncture for the market, which provides new insight about emotion, supply dynamics, and potential future price action.

A Small But Important Change In Supply

After a period of downside movement, the chart has now moved back into positive territory, as over 10,700 BTC were observed transitioning into long-term held coins. While this is still a very modest change in the action of investors, it is not insignificant.

Meanwhile, with this change, long-term holders appear to have reduced their selling pressure to the point where their supply is beginning to exhibit an increase again. At the same time, short-term holders continue to hold their BTC.

In the past, Darkfost stated that these kinds of changes have frequently preceded the emergence of bullish recoveries or consolidation stages. However, this trend depends on how the broader trend evolves.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is hovering near the $87,300 level. However, within just a few hours on Monday, the price of BTC witnessed an increase of $3,000. According to Darkfost, this slight pump is mainly triggered by activity in the derivatives market as its Open Interest surged by $2 billion over the same period.

When this kind of move occurs, it is often short-lived. This is because leveraged positions tend to be temporary, which commonly prevents the market from forming a healthy base for a sustained bullish reversal.