On-Chain Bitcoin Shows Increased Transactions from Older Coins
Older Hands Increasingly Selling Off Bitcoin
According to data from on-chain analytics platform Glassnode, long-term Bitcoin holders are increasingly selling off their holdings to take advantage of the cryptocurrency’s recent price increase.
In its weekly report, Glassnode highlighted that older coins showed a similar pattern during last year’s bull run. Shielding themselves from the risks of major price corrections, long-term holders notably took humongous profits in 2021’s major sell-off.
Coming to this week, “a sharp uptick” is seen among the wallet holders between 6 months and 5 years, comprising both traders and investors. Despite these holders “who have weathered non-trivial volatility in this cycle already” increased spending is seen, suggesting that some coins are taking exit liquidity.
With increased movement of the older coins, bitcoin balances on crypto exchanges have also seen “a very slight uptick,” following a month-long period of largely stable balances.
“The Exchange Net Flow metric shows that this week saw overall net inflows to exchanges as some traders and investors appear to be taking profits, and capitalising on market strength.”
Older Coins Going More Active Recently
A further observation from Glassnode suggests that older hands are becoming more active in recent years, compared to the previous cycles. This is an indicator of “market maturity” and "financialization of Bitcoin” over time, according to the on-chain analytics company.
“In the 2011 and 2013 cycles, older coins typically only came back to life around macro tops and bottoms, where as today it is more common around mid-cycle corrections and rallies.”
Earlier this week, Bitcoin (BTC) crossed the $50,000 level but has recovered and fallen down to $46,951 at the time of writing.