Bitcoin Price Dips Under $54,000 As Its Largest Holders Take Profits

The price of Bitcoin fell under its support level of $54,000 earlier today, leading to market-wide speculation that the bull run may be slowing down.

What Happened: According to CoinMarketCap, the market-leading cryptocurrency hit a low of $53,470 and was down over 7% from its 24-hour high of $57,382.

Some on-chain analysts suggested that the bull run would continue after this correction, even though overall sentiments were largely mixed as data indicated that Bitcoin’s largest holders were selling.

According to on-chain analytics provider, Glassnode, Bitcoin whales wallets were “comparatively flat,” despite small holders increasing their holdings of the digital asset.

Large wallets, holding over 100 BTC, were found to be relatively flat, net over the past three years. In fact, those wallets holding between 1k and 10k BTC were found to have decreased their holdings by 307k.

“As price increases, the incentive to sell and realize these profits also increases. As a result, we typically see HODLers spending their coins as Bull Markets progress,” said analysts from Glassnode.

Why It Matters: The fact that some larger holders are now taking profits seems to indicate that the Bitcoin bull market cycle is no longer at its early stages.

The analysts also found that each new bull market cycle involved more of Bitcoin’s supply getting locked up by long-term holders. At the “Peak HODL” stage of the current bull market, over 75% of the coin’s supply was locked in by long-term holders.

“After Peak HODL we see profits taken at a faster rate than new HODLers coming in,” said Glassnode, referring to a chart that displayed the most recent dip in Bitcoin’s price.