Long-term Bitcoin investors keep selling off. A brief surge above $90,000 still cannot change the downward trend.

Lianhe Media 12月18日 news (Editor: Malan) reports that Bitcoin is entering a sustained downward phase, and one important reason is that long-term holders are continuing to sell the asset.

According to a report from K33 Research, compared with the beginning of 2023, the amount of Bitcoin that has been at least two years without flowing into exchanges has fallen by 1.6 million coins, worth roughly $140 billion. Only in 2025, nearly $300 billion worth of Bitcoin re-entered circulation after lying dormant for more than a year.

Meanwhile, the market’s ability to absorb these Bitcoins re-entering circulation has been gradually weakening. In the past year, the ETFs that absorbed most of the Bitcoin have now shifted to net outflows, and retail traders’ enthusiasm has also hit a low.

Ergonia research head Chris Newhouse noted that the market is experiencing a slow decline characterized by ongoing spot selling, while buy-side liquidity remains insufficient. This creates a gradual drawdown that is harder to reverse than leverage-driven capitulation-style selling.

Long period of consolidation

On Wednesday, the Bitcoin price briefly rose to $90k, but traders believe this was due to large short positions being closed out, after which Bitcoin’s price returned to a downward trend. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading above $86,000.

K33 senior analyst Vetle Lunde said that, unlike previous cycles, this Bitcoin price spike to highs was not driven by altcoin trading or protocol incentive mechanisms, but by ample liquidity brought by US ETF investment demand. This has enabled early holders to profit at six-figure prices, while significantly reducing Bitcoin’s concentration among large investors.

TYMIO, a crypto investment platform, founder Georgii Verbitskii predicts that the Bitcoin price will very likely consolidate for a longer period of time, and he does not rule out a drop to $70k or even $60k.

But Lunde believes that, based on observations of historical on-chain capital flows, as the size of Bitcoins re-entering circulation approaches a certain threshold, long-term holders’ selling may be nearing an end.

He pointed out that the selling pressure from long-term holders appears to be nearing saturation. Over the past two years, about 20% of the Bitcoin supply has been reactivated. He expects that selling from early investors will decline by 2026.

(Editor: Wenjing)

Keywords:

                                                            Bitcoin