Bitcoin The long-term holder (LTH) supply has fallen to an eight-month low of 14,342,207 BTC, a level last seen in May, at a time when Bitcoin is down nearly 40% from its all-time high in October.
Glassnode defines long-term holders as entities that have held Bitcoin for at least 155 days, setting the cutoff for the current group around mid-July, so any buyers holding at that time would be classified as LTH.
This decline marks the third significant wave in LTH distribution in the current cycle since early 2023.
The first wave occurred in late 2023 and early 2024 after the launch of the U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF, when LTH sold off as Bitcoin rallied from around $25,000 to a peak of nearly $73,000 in March 2024.
The second wave came later in the year, when Bitcoin rose to $100,000 on optimism about President Trump’s election victory. With Bitcoin remaining above $100,000 for much of the year, the market is currently experiencing its third LTH sell-off.
Why is this cycle different?
This behavior is in stark contrast to the previous bull markets of 2013, 2017, and 2021, in which LTH supply typically followed a single boom and bust pattern, bottoming near the peak of the euphoric cycle before gradually recovering.
Instead, this cycle has seen repeated waves of allocations without significant shocks, a dynamic highlighted by Checkonchain co-founder Alec, who noted that Bitcoin LTH spend during this cycle is unlike anything seen in recent history, with the market absorbing the third wave of sell-offs well.
LTH distribution remains one of the largest sources of seller pressure on Bitcoin and was a key factor in the nearly 40% retracement from October’s all-time highs.
