On-chain data shows that long-term holders of Bitcoin have seen their supply register a sharp net increase over the past month.
The supply of long-term Bitcoin holders is currently growing rapidly
As explained by CryptoQuant community manager Maartunn in a new after at X, BTC supply has recently matured into the cohort of long-term holders. The “long term holders”(LTHs) refer to the Bitcoin investors who have been holding their coins since more than 155 days ago.
The LTHs make up one of the two main divisions of the BTC sector, done on a holding time basis, with the other cohort being known as the “short-term holders” (STHs). The STHs generally represent the fickle side of the market, while the LTHs contain the determined hands.
There are many indicators to monitor the behavior of these two groups. One of those indicators is the LTH Net Position Change. This metric, as the name suggests, measures the net changes in the combined supply of the HODLers. When the value of this measure is positive, it means that LTH supply is increasing. On the other hand, if it is below zero, it suggests a net number of coins are leaving this cohort’s holdings.
Here is a chart showing the trend in the 30-day Bitcoin LTH Net Position Change throughout the history of the cryptocurrency:
The value of the metric appears to have seen a large positive spike in recent days | Source: @JA_Maartun on X
As shown in the chart above, the 30-day Bitcoin LTH Net Position Change had fallen to sharp negative values as the BTC price rose to a new all-time high (ATH) in the first quarter of the year. This could indicate that even these investors, who don’t sell easily, couldn’t escape the allure of these stocks profit taking that came with the rally. These profit takings from the diamond hands had been going on for some time, even when the coin had reached the top.
However, in recent months the statistic has shown a turnaround, with a particularly large spike in the past month. Over the last thirty days, the supply of LTHs has grown by 959,000 BTC, which is a pretty significant amount. However, something that should not be misinterpreted is what this positive peak in Net Position Change indicates. The LTHs haven’t ‘bought’ anything with this spike, all that has happened is that some coins, purchased 155 days ago, are now being held long enough to qualify for this group.
While HODLer accumulation has a 155-day lag, this does not apply to selling. Coins leave the LTH supply once they break dormancy via a transaction on the network, so it can be assumed that sales will be immediately reflected on the indicator.
The diamond hands may or may not have participated in Bitcoin ‘buying’ lately, but the fact that coins are maturing on the network is still a positive sign in any case, as it suggests that the investors are currently willing to HODL.
BTC price
Bitcoin has fallen another 3% in the past 24 hours and is now at the $60,800 mark.
Looks like the price of the coin has been slipping down recently | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Dall-E, CryptoQuant.com, chart from TradingView.com