According to Glassnode, Bitcoin investors made an incredible $3.5 billion in realized profits over the last 24 hours, which is one of the biggest single-day cashouts of the year. It is interesting that this wave was not led by short-term traders. Long-term holders took the lion's share, walking away with $1.96 billion - 56% of the total realized profits.
On-chain data shows a rare instance where long-term Bitcoin holders - usually known for holding through volatility - took advantage of high prices to sell a lot of their holdings. Short-term holders had the remaining $1.54 billion, which suggests a widespread move to reduce risk as Bitcoin (BTC) hovered near cycle highs.
This profit realization comes just as Bitcoin briefly touched $123,000 earlier this week before pulling back to around $117,000. The latest trading charts show that BTC is facing some resistance near its local top right now.
Also, the daily RSI is showing signs of cooling down. The price action over the past few hours also suggests exhaustion, with Bitcoin dropping by more than $5,000 from its weekly high.
Several red candles now dominate the latest sessions, which is a sign of post-profit-taking pressure. In the meantime, the daily structure is still looking good, above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. But this sudden outflow of cash might cause some short-term turbulence.
The main point? Bitcoin's recent surge to new highs is not just about ETF flows and macro sentiment. It is affecting real economic decisions for long-term investors. With a whopping $3.5 billion gone in just one day, the next few sessions will show if BTC can handle the supply shock or if more selling is on the way.
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team