Bitcoin Supply on Exchanges Hits the Lowest Level since November 2018

The price of Bitcoin failed to make any substantial move last week as the most dominant digital asset stayed below $20,000 over the weekend. However, the supply of Bitcoin at leading crypto exchanges has dropped sharply in the past few years.

According to Santiment’s recent on-chain data, the Bitcoin supply at digital asset trading platforms now stands at around 1.74 million, which is the lowest level since November 2018. Santiment noted that the number has dipped significantly in the past 30 months.

In March 2020, exchanges held approximately 2.9 million Bitcoin. Since then, the number has dropped by more than 40%.

“Through all of the volatility since early 2020, Bitcoin's supply continues being withdrawn away from exchanges. During downtrends such as crypto's 2022, it is familiar to see long-term holders making up a greater percentage of overall supply held,” Santiment highlighted.

In most cases, BTC whales moved their crypto holdings from trading platforms to digital wallets. As a result, leading Bitcoin addresses now hold a significant amount of the total BTC supply.

Crypto Market

On Monday, digital currencies failed to regain the overall market cap of $1 trillion. Commenting on the latest crypto market developments, Simon Peters, a Market Analyst at eToro, said: “The crypto market once again remained largely stagnant over the last seven days, due to continued uncertainty over expected Fed interest rate hikes. Bitcoin is currently trading at under $20,000, as its increasingly close correlation with equities continues. Much like Bitcoin’s wobble, the Nasdaq and S&P closed 3.25% and 2.7% down, reflecting yet another tough week for markets.”

“Ether has fared slightly better, trading now at $1,560, roughly the same as last week. This likely reflects bullishness around the upcoming Merge, coming up fast on September 15th. While the Fed’s hawkish approach is no doubt impacting sentiment, we have also entered September, statistically one of the most difficult investing months,” Peters added.