Bitcoin Long-Term Holders Halt Selling of 260,000 BTC

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $76,300 following a 3% daily decline. Long-term holders showed strong selling pressure in August, but this activity has nearly halted.

This selling left clear traces: coins moved from long-term wallets to new buyers, with one price range now determining whether profits are locked in or not.

According to Glassnode data, long-term holder net position turned sharply negative in mid-August, moving approximately 260,000 BTC—a level not seen since January 2025. The same group had previously bought Bitcoin between March and June.

In late 2024, around 170,000 BTC was sold by long-term holders during the all-time high period. In August, more coins were sold at approximately $80,000 than at $122,000, meaning many long-term holders missed out on significant potential gains.

CryptoQuant data shows that short-term holders absorbed the coins, with their supply of losses dominating for nine months until reaching over $60 billion. In August, however, profit-taking surged to about $26 billion while losses dropped near zero. This shift has since weakened as profits fell to $16.82 billion and losses rose again to $10.26 billion due to a price drop.

On the daily chart, Bitcoin broke through a downtrend line from January's high but stalled at $82,613 early in September. This level corresponds to the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement of the decline from $97,950 to $57,802. Current price is below the 0.5 retracement at $77,876.

The current support level is $76,500, with a potential drop toward $73,000–$75,000 representing the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement. Trading volume has contracted since late August without major selling pressure, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) fell from around 78 to 53.

Maintaining price above $76,500 and recovering to $81,000 would sustain the profit shift. A drop below $73,000 could push many August buyers into loss territory—a scenario previously warned about in Bitcoin bottom research.

Analyst Root uses a spiral pattern model where time is angle and price is radius, with one full cycle representing four years. The current position aligns with the low points formed in 2015, 2018, and 2022. This framework assumes continued four-year cycles, though competing models are increasingly questioned.