Wall Street is selling Bitcoin but the old holders are now buying it back

[ad_1]

Glassnode’s latest Week Onchain report shows that roughly 10.83 million BTC are now in the red, against 9.22 million still in profit.

Loss-making supply now accounts for roughly 54% of the measured total, compared with 46% still in profit, meaning underwater coins exceed profitable coins by about 1.61 million BTC.

Infographic showing 54% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply (10.83 million BTC) is held at a loss, exceeding the 46% held in profit by roughly 1.61 million BTC.

Glassnode describes this as one of the sharpest deteriorations in investor profitability since the current bull market began, a threshold with real psychological weight.

Crossing it before has coincided with genuine capitulation among newer buyers, the kind of stress that shapes a structural drawdown.

Underwater holders are the ones most prone to selling into panic or exiting near breakeven once the price recovers, which keeps a layer of resistance above the market.

Yet those same coins can migrate to higher-conviction buyers if patient capital is willing to absorb them, and Glassnode’s data shows exactly that kind of buyer has begun to show up.

The seller profile is already changing underneath that stress, as Glassnode says long-term holders have started rebuilding positions, a reversal from an extended stretch of distribution, with net position change back in positive territory.

The pace stays modest, well short of the buying waves seen in prior accumulation cycles, but the direction has turned. The first sign of a bottom often shows up here, in experienced holders deciding a drawdown is worth buying, well before price itself confirms anything.

Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score climbed across multiple cohorts this week, with the strongest readings among wallets holding less than 1 BTC and entities holding 100 to 1,000 BTC.

Wallets in the 1,000-to-10,000 BTC range also turned net buyers. Bitcoin’s quiet bid is spreading across the entire ownership ladder, from the smallest wallets to mid-sized entities.

US-traded spot Bitcoin ETFs remain in sustained net outflow territory, and that selling pressure has persisted even as on-chain conviction builds in the opposite direction. The ETF story explains why the price stays weak, while the on-chain story explains who is taking the other side.

Market layerCurrent signalWhat it meansArticle implicationETF investorsSustained net outflowsRegulated wrappers are still de-riskingExplains why price remains weakLong-term holdersNet position change back in positive territoryExperienced holders are rebuilding exposureSuggests supply is moving to patient handsSmall walletsStrong accumulation among sub-1 BTC walletsRetail-sized holders are buying the drawdownThe bid is not only institutional or whale-drivenMid-sized entitiesStrong buying among 100–1,000 BTC entitiesLarger on-chain holders are also absorbing supplyAccumulation is broadening across cohortsLarge wallets1,000–10,000 BTC wallets turned net buyersBigger holders are no longer only distributingConfirms the seller profile is changingSpot order booksCoinbase and Binance shifting toward bidsBuyers are placing liquidity below spotA base can form even while price looks weak

Coinbase and Binance both show books shifting toward the bid, with buyers adding liquidity below spot. That bid looks patient, which is why the price can still look weak even as a base starts to form underneath it.

Hyperliquid traders hold a long bias at the highest level Glassnode has tracked, using leveraged exposure to bet on a bounce before spot conviction is fully confirmed.
The cash market is trying to build a floor, while the derivatives market is trying to get there first.

Options traders are already paying up for protection: the 14-day put-to-call volume ratio climbed above 1.0, its highest reading in a year. Implied volatility is climbing too, up from depressed levels, though Glassnode stops short of calling it a panic reading.

The market carries enough fear to begin bottoming, though the fear needed to confirm a finished capitulation may still be building.

Put together, the pattern looks unusual for a bottoming process, and Bitcoin may be finding a floor through an unusual mechanism: ETF investors are selling while stronger, more patient hands absorb the exit in real time.

CryptoSlate Daily Brief

Daily signals, zero noise.

Market-moving headlines and context delivered every morning in one tight read.