No More 'Bitcoin Tourists' In Crypto Market, Says On-Chain Analysis Firm

Bitcoin BTC/USD saw one of its worst-performing months on record in June, along with a mass exodus of retail traders.

What Happened: In a recent report examining the state of the Bitcoin network, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode noted the  “near-complete expulsion of market tourists” with only long-term holders remaining resilient.

“Prices traded down 37.9% over the last 30-days, competing only with the 2011 bear market, for the crown of the worst month on record,” stated the analysts. The last time Bitcoin recorded such a massive monthly drawdown was 11 years ago when its price was under $10.

“With network activity now at levels coincident with the deepest bear phase in 2018 and 2019, it appears that a near-complete purge of market tourism has taken place."

Glassnode refers to “market tourists” in this context as short-term players looking to benefit from positive price action in an upward market. The firm noted that address activity declined 13% from 1 million active addresses a day to under 870,000 over the last month.

See Also: 'Elon Musk Is A Tourist In Crypto,' Says Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Who Predicts $160K BTC By Year-End

Despite a historically bad year-to-date performance, analysts found “strong HODLer undertones persist.” In this context, Glassnode describes a “HODLer” to be a BTC holder with a long-term investment horizon that is yet to sell assets.

Included in this list of entities that have retained their Bitcoin exposure is Tesla Inc TSLA. Tesla’s $1.5 billion Bitcoin investment is now worth around $820 million, but the company has not made any significant BTC sales since April 2021.

Amid the selloff, some players like MicroStrategy Incorporated MSTR and the government of El Salvador purchased an additional $10 million and $1.5 million worth of Bitcoin respectively.

Price Action: As per data from Benzinga Pro, the crypto market rose 5.60% over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin BTC/USD was trading at $20.347 at press time, up 6.45% over the last day.

Photo via smolaw on Shutterstock