Bitcoin (BTC) has gained a new generation of “hodlers” over the past three years as stubborn investors refuse to sell.
Data from the popular HODL Waves indicator shows that people who bought Bitcoin at the end of 2020 are still holding their coins.
The BTC price needs to be “much higher” for holders to sell.
A group of long-term investors in Bitcoin, also known as long-term holders (LTHs), are unwilling to reduce their exposure despite a bull run in 2023.
HODL Waves, which groups BTC supply based on the time elapsed since each coin last moved, shows significant increases in certain age groups over the past year.
Coins that haven’t moved in two or three years since the bear market bottomed in late 2022 have significantly increased their presence within the overall supply. Last December, the group accounted for about 8% of supply, but now its share exceeds 15%.
Put another way, those who have currently purchased BTC between December 2020 and December 2021 have resisted the urge to engage in mass profit-taking.
Realized Cap HODL Waves, which show the relative weighted value of coin cohorts, show the largest gains in total realized cap percentage coming from coins that are 2-3 years old.
Nonetheless, BTC/USD is up 165% year-to-date, and according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, hodlers’ resilience is nothing short of extraordinary.
Philip Swift, founder of Look Into Bitcoin, a statistical resource that hosts HODL Waves, frequently comments on the LTH phenomenon as seasoned investors become more entrenched in their positions over time.
“Bitcoin’s one-year HODL wave has barely budged so far.” predicted Last month we talked about another group of hodlers on X (formerly Twitter).
“Long-term Bitcoin users don’t sell their coins until we go higher.”
speculator on the back foot
The group that contrasts with LTH (short-term holders (STHs) or speculators), in contrast, increased their profit-taking in the past week.
Related: Bitcoin rises 170% since ECB declares ‘last gasp’ at $16.4K
As Cointelegraph reported, when Bitcoin surpassed $40,000, it triggered an immediate selling reaction from these companies, resulting in $4.5 billion of BTC being sold in a matter of days.
This had little impact on the spot market in an environment where LTH already controlled more supply than before.
According to data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, this figure stands at 14.92 million BTC as of December 6, slightly lower than the all-time high of 14.95 million BTC, or 76.3% of supply, seen on November 28.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. All investment and trading activities involve risk and readers should conduct their own research when making any decisions.