The degree of Unrealized Profit and Loss held by Bitcoin Long-Term Holders (LTH-NUPL) metric by on-chain analyst Glassnode has recovered to pre-Terra crash levels. Is market performance entering a "Belief" phase in January, 2024?
Bitcoin (BTC) long-term holders' unrealized profit reaches 55%
By mid-January 2024, the unrealized profit of the average Bitcoin (BTC) long-term holder jumped to 55%, which is "meaningfully positive," on-chain expert Glassnode shared in the latest The Week Onchain report.
The last time Bitcoin "diamond hands" wwere enjoying such profits was in early Q1, 2022, before the Terra Luna ecosystem collapsed. Also, such levels were registered in July 2019, before the "Xi spike," and in August 2020, when crypto markets were triggered by the first "TikTok pumps" of meme coins.
Meanwhile, some holders of this group decided to capitalize on the recent Bitcoin (BTC) upsurge and sell their assets at current prices. Long-Term Holder Supply has also come ever-so-slightly off its ATH, declining by almost 75,000 BTC since November 2023.
Nevertheless, this group of investors is still responsible for a whopping 76.3% of the circulating coin supply. Three out of every four BTC in circulation are stored by long-term holders.
Before Q3, 2023, this metric stayed negative for over a year: passionate Bitcoiners (BTC) held their coins at a loss.
Bitcoin (BTC) surprisingly dropped below YTD lows: Two reasons
On the "rainbow" version of this chart, the metric left the "Optimism/Anxiety" zone and entered the "Belief" zone, which is associated with moderate optimism among investors.
At the same time, the much-anticipated Bitcoin ETF approval in the U.S. brought mixed signals to Bitcoin (BTC) markets. After an upsurge, the BTC price dropped to almost $40,000 on major spot exchanges.
Per Glassnode, a painful 18% price drop was driven by both unhealthy derivatives leverage dynamics and spot profit-taking by some traders.
At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at $42,600, or down 1.27% in the last 24 hours.
Alex Dovbnya
Dan Burgin