Bitcoin Long-Term Holders Flee, Miners Worried! What’s Next For BTC Price

Traders and investors were still recovering from Terra LUNA’s catastrophic crypto crash, and now the unexpected drop in Bitcoin appears to be a nightmare for many. The leading cryptocurrency fell below $18,000 on Sunday, while the price of key cryptocurrencies also recorded a double-digit drop last week.

The Bitcoin crypto crisis occurred due to a number of factors, including a 70% drop in the Celsius Network (CEL), an increase in the US inflation rate to 8.6%, and a large sell-off over the weekend that impacted the market.

Major liquidations Reported

For the last three days, according to on-chain statistics Glassnode, Bitcoin liquidations totaling $2.42 billion have occurred every day. 

“The last three consecutive days have been the largest USD denominated Realized Loss in Bitcoin history. Over $7.325B in $BTC losses have been locked in by investors spending coins that were accumulated at higher prices”.

Furthermore, over 555K Bitcoins have changed hands in the last three days, with prices ranging from $18,000 to $23,000. Long-term Bitcoin holders, who had accumulated coins in H1 2021 or before, panicked, flooding the markets with 20K to 36K Bitcoins every day.

Long-term holders sold more than 178K Bitcoins after the price fell below $23,000, according to Glassnode data. This accounts for 1.31 percent of their total assets. It also brings the whole LTH balance up to September 2021 levels.

Bitcoin Miners Under “Stress”

Furthermore, according to Glassnode, Bitcoin miners have been under stress as their balances have remained stagnant since the accumulation period of 2019-2021.

BTC miners spent $9,000 on their treasuries last week, yet they still have more than 50,000 Bitcoins. The hashrate of Bitcoin has also plummeted 10% from its all-time high.

Aside from long-term investors, short-term investors have also suffered significant losses. According to Glassnode, only 49% of all Bitcoins were profitable when the price fell below $18,000.

“If we assess the damage, we can see that almost all wallet cohorts, from Shrimp to Whales, now hold massive unrealized losses, worse than March 2020”.