Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped by around 5% in the last 24 hours as selling pressure increased. Reports suggest that long-term BTC holders and miners have emerged as significant sellers, showing limited signs of renewed demand.
Bitcoin Sees Miner Sell-Off
According to CryptoQuant, these sellers offloaded over $1.2 billion worth of Bitcoin, indicating a broader market slowdown with the liquidity of stablecoins growing at its slowest pace since November 2023.
Experts note that traders are still not increasing their Bitcoin holdings, and demand growth from large holders (whales) is still lacking. The decline in whale Bitcoin holdings coincides with BTC prices dropping from over $70,000 in late May to $64,000 levels.
Bitcoin price has dropped by around 4% in the last 30 days and is currently trading at an average price of $65,055. Despite this, BTC is still up by 50% year-to-date (YTD). Its 24-hour trading volume stood at over $33.8 billion on Wednesday, with a market cap of $1.2 trillion.
UTXO Data Indicates Increased Bitcoin Selling
The report mentions a decline in Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) age bands, which suggests increased Bitcoin activity and selling. UTXOs provide insights into market behavior, and a decrease in UTXO age indicates heightened selling pressure.
Selling Pressure Continues?
“One of the biggest trends since the Bitcoin halving this year is that miners are increasingly diverting to AI business,” noted Lucy Hu, a senior analyst. “The fall of mining rewards prompted miners to seek other channels to boost revenue.”
This shift comes as Bitcoin prices face pressure from a strong dollar, a move away from riskier assets, and growth in traditional stock indices. Additionally, US-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Bitcoin saw net outflows of over $600 million last week, marking their worst performance since late April.
Potential Institutional Adoption Despite Challenges
Despite current market challenges, there are signs of potential institutional adoption of Bitcoin and crypto-linked stocks. Broker Bernstein’s recent research report highlights that while some crypto bears believe the initial excitement around spot Bitcoin ETFs has waned, approvals for these ETFs at major wirehouses and large private bank platforms could come as soon as Q3/Q4.
Not a financial advice