Bitcoin HODLers Booked $120 Million In Profits During Price Crash: Data

On-chain data shows the Bitcoin long-term holders locked in a significant amount of gain around the time of the latest price plunge.

As explained by analyst Ali Martinez in a new post on X, long-term holder whales have participated in some profit-taking recently. “Long-term holders” (LTHs) refer to the Bitcoin investors who have been holding onto their coins since more than 155 days ago.

This cohort is considered to represent the HODLers of the market, who rarely sell even in the face of volatility. That said, there are times when these investors do participate in selloffs, and one such instance seems to have occurred just recently.

In the context of the current topic, the everyday LTHs aren’t of focus, but rather the LTH whales, diamond hands who carry more than 1,000 BTC (about $113.7 million) in their balance.

Below is the chart shared by Martinez that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Realized Profit for the LTH whales over the last few weeks.

The Realized Profit here is naturally an on-chain indicator that measures the total amount of profit that the Bitcoin LTH whales are locking in through their transactions. From the graph, it’s visible that this metric observed a notable spike on September 21st.

This was the day BTC started a price drawdown that took it to the $112,000 level. Thus, it would appear possible that the profit-taking from the HODLers may have in part been to blame for the bearish action.

In total, LTH whales harvested over $120 million in profits during this distribution spree. Meanwhile, the short-term holders (STHs), representing investors who entered the market during the past five months, participated in loss-taking instead, as CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn has pointed out in an X post.

As displayed in the above chart, Bitcoin STHs sent 15,700 BTC at a loss to exchanges during the price crash. Investors generally use these platforms when they want to sell, so these loss transactions could have been a sign of capitulation from the cohort.

The STHs have a relatively short holding time, so they are assumed to include the weak hands of the sector. In that view, the latest capitulation would be on-brand for the group.

Coming back to the LTHs, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode has shared a chart that puts into perspective the total amount of profit that the LTHs as a whole have realized in the current cycle so far.

The cumulative Bitcoin LTH Realized Profit sits at 3.4 million BTC for the current bull market, which is higher than all, but one previous cycle.

Bitcoin has made some recovery during the past day as its price has returned to $113,700.