Recent on-chain data suggests Bitcoin’s current woes might not yet be over as short-term holders continue to feel the heat. Bitcoin has failed to rebound significantly after a price decline in the past week, leaving many investors wondering whether to expect further declines in the coming weeks. Notably, data reveals short-term holders have been left wanting the most, especially as Bitcoin continues to trade under their realized price.
Bitcoin Holders Continue Trading Under Short-Term Pain Point
Short-term holders are generally known for buying into Bitcoin for only a few weeks at a time before selling for profits. Interestingly, just earlier this month, Bitcoin had crossed over $71,000 again in what many holders saw as the beginning of another extended uptrend. This brief break above $71,000 saw many short holders jumping on the bandwagon, hoping to catch the wave up.
However, things haven’t been rosy since then, as Bitcoin has dropped steadily to even reach a 30-day low of $63,622 in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Not to mention the fact that miners have given in and flooded the market with more Bitcoins in the past few days, which has further contributed to the price decrease.
According to on-chain data shared on social media platform X by crypto analyst Ali Martinez, short-term holders are starting to feel the pressure. Interestingly, this pressure stems from Bitcoin’s prolonged trading below their realized price of $66,200. Their cost basis or “realized price,” which is the average price at which they acquired their Bitcoin holdings, now exceeds the current market value. In other words, they’re sitting on unrealized losses.
Short-term #Bitcoin holders are starting to feel the pressure as $BTC continues to trade below their realized price of $66,200! pic.twitter.com/q2tTyrApnf
— Ali (@ali_charts) June 22, 2024
What Does This Mean For Price?
Short-term holders face a tough choice at this pivotal juncture: should they cut their losses and sell, or stick it out and HODL. While it is impossible to tell what actions individual investors might take, their position as short-term holders indicates they sell more often than not. This in turn could lead to a further price decline, at least in the short term. On the other hand, long-term holders are more inclined to view this dip as a temporary blip and hold on to their assets.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $64,381 and needs a lot of effort from the bulls to keep it from falling further. According to a weekly report from blockchain intelligence firm CryptoQuant, Bitcoin currently faces the risk of falling to $60,000.
As mentioned earlier, on-chain data shows that Bitcoin miners have been selling their holdings. IntoTheBlock data shows that miners have sold over 30,000 BTC worth $2 billion at the fastest rate in more than a year since the beginning of June.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView