On-chain data shows that the Bitcoin long-term holder supply has stagnated near an all-time high. Here’s what it might mean.
Bitcoin Long-Term Holder Supply Is Near ATH Right Now
According to data from the on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the supply of long-term holders currently stands at around 14.47 million BTC. The “long-term holder (LTH) group” is a Bitcoin cohort that includes all investors who bought their coins more than 155 days ago.
These LTHs are the strong hands of the market, as they generally hold their BTC for large stretches of time without showing any movement, regardless of what may be going on in the wider market.
Since this cohort barely budges even while FUD has taken over the sector, or a profitable selling opportunity has appeared due to a rally, the times that they do sell can be the ones to look out for, as they can be worrying signs for the market.
The “LTH supply” is an indicator that measures the total amount of Bitcoin that these holders are currently carrying. Changes in the value of this metric can provide us with hints about the latest behavior of the LTHs.
Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin LTH supply over the past half a year:
Looks like the value of the metric seems to have not moved much in recent days | Source: Glassnode on Twitter
As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin LTH supply had been slowly going up during the first couple of months of the rally, implying that a net amount of coins were maturing into this group.
In late Feb, however, the indicator started declining and reached a low in March. During this time, the asset’s price took a deep hit, implying that some of the selling from the LTHs may have contributed to it.
After consolidating around those lows, the indicator finally began to show a sharp rise in April, which continued until well into May, when the indicator set a new all-time high of 14.49 million BTC.
Since then, the Bitcoin LTH supply has mostly moved sideways, as the metric today has a value of 14.47 million BTC, just 20,000 BTC off the aforementioned all-time high.
During this period where the LTH supply has hit stagnation, the market has gone through FUD like the SEC charges against Binance and Coinbase, and the latest rally in the price above the $30,000 level has also just occurred.
The LTHs may have participated in some selling during these events, but the fact that their supply has been flat would suggest that there is also an equal amount of coins maturing into the group that is making up for any distribution.
These diamond hands standing strong among the latest sharp price rise, especially, is a positive sign for the market, as it shows that these investors think a better profit-taking opportunity would be coming later.
BTC Price
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $30,300, up 15% in the last week.
BTC has shot up recently | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView