Quick Takeaways
- Long-term Bitcoin holders have sold over 241,000 BTC (~$26.8B)
- Institutional demand has slowed sharply in recent weeks
- A bear flag on the chart points to a possible drop toward $95.5K
Bitcoin long-term holders are cashing out big-time
The selling pressure on Bitcoin is beginning to show after a wild few weeks. In the previous month, over 241,000 bitcoins have been dumped by long term holders, or who owe their cryptocurrency for at least six months.
That’s roughly $26.8 billion worth of BTC flooding the market, according to on-chain data from CryptoQuant. To put it simply: that’s one of the biggest sell-offs we’ve seen this year.
So why now? The sell-off kicked in after Bitcoin hit a fresh all-time high of $124,500 in mid-August. Once that happened, long-time holders started locking in profits fast. On top of that, whales (large investors) joined the exit, unloading another 115,000 BTC.
But it’s not just individual investors pulling back.
Institutional buying which helped fuel much of Bitcoin’s 2024 rally is slowing down too. Treasury firms, despite now holding over 1 million BTC, have become far more cautious.
For example, Strategy companies bought just 3,700 BTC in August, a massive drop from 134,000 BTC back in November 2024. Other corporate buyers followed the same pattern, with purchases falling from 66,000 BTC in June to just 14,800 BTC last month.
“These smaller, slower purchases suggest that institutional demand is cooling,” said analysts at CryptoQuant in their latest Weekly Crypto Report.
And Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments, summed it up clearly: the number of companies buying Bitcoin each day is falling. That’s not great news if you’re counting on institutions to keep the bull run going.
Bitcoin charts show a warning: Bear flag could mean $95K
While the fundamentals are shifting, the Bitcoin chart is also flashing some red flags. After peaking at $124,500 on August 16, the price dropped about 14%, hitting $107,500 by August 30.
It has since bounced back a bit and is now hovering around $111,500. But technically speaking, that bounce might not last. Bitcoin recently broke below a bear flag a common chart pattern that often signals more downside ahead.
It’s now retesting that lower boundary around $112,000, which also lines up with the 100-day moving average. If Bitcoin can’t reclaim that level as support, the chart points to a possible drop to $95,500.
That’s another 14.5% lowerthan where it’s trading now. Of course, not everyone is calling for a crash. Some market analysts believe this pullback is actually milder than usual.
A 13% drop from the top isn’t uncommon, and it could just be a breather before the next leg up.
Even if Bitcoin dips below $90,000, many still believe it’s on track to break new highs later this year.
A 30% correction from the peak would put the bottom around $87,000, which interestingly matches the realized price for Bitcoin held by investors over the last 6–12 months.
That could become a key support level.
