Bitcoin is a deflationary asset with a fixed supply, unlike Ethereum, whose supply increases or decreases each year depending on network usage. There are only 21 million BTC in circulation, and a significant portion of over 4 million is unrecoverable.
Fewer and fewer Bitcoin holders are willing to sell their Bitcoins
Now, recent data show That fewer and fewer people are willing to part with their BTC. On-chain data from Bitcoin's long-term and short-term holder supply cycle shows that as of October 2024, less than 10% of holders were eager to sell. This percentage is much lower than the 26% around mid-2021, which was 64% in 2013.
Interestingly, this trend shows that long-term holders, i.e. those who bought the coin more than 6 months ago, and short-term holders, i.e. those who bought BTC within 155 days, are willing to part with their coins. is shown. This position holds despite the fact that Bitcoin, like other cryptoassets, is volatile, registering sharp price increases or sharp declines over time.
To put this situation in perspective, Bitcoin is down 15% from its all-time high in March 2024. However, after rising from around $27,000 in October 2023, it is up nearly 150% year-to-date. Bitcoin price in 2022 soared to nearly $70,000 in November 2021, before falling below $16,000.
Looking at the hard data, Bitcoin's cyclical nature does not deter traders who, for example, sell every time the price plummets. This change in trend over the years shows that more holders are positive about the coin's long-term potential, and even as a store of value.
Traders playing don't want to dump, but institutions are loading
There may be multiple factors behind this trend, but engagement from institutions tops the list, especially after approving the first spot for a Bitcoin ETF in the US earlier this year.
According to soso valuea US spot Bitcoin ETF issuer, manages over $57 billion in BTC. BlackRock manages more than $21.5 billion in user assets, while Grayscale, which is unwinding GBTC, has seen more than $20 billion in outflows since launching its derivatives product in January.
Meanwhile, Blockstream CEO Adam Back said: observe This means that there are no options longer than one year for both calls and puts. The CEO added that this is because most options traders are reluctant to sell calls.
Featured image from Canva, chart from TradingView
