Bitcoin whale profits hit record $9.07B, long-term holders increase on-chain activity

Bitcoin’s (BTC) short-term holder (STH) whales have reached a record level of unrealized profit, raising concerns that increased profit-taking could put pressure on the market during its current consolidation phase.

Short-term holder whales hit highest unrealized profit levels on record

Short-term holder whale unrealized profit reached $9.07 billion on September 4, marking the highest level recorded in the metric’s history dating back to 2016, according to CryptoQuant contributor IT Tech on Monday.

Although the figure fell to $7.51 billion on Saturday as Bitcoin’s price moved slightly lower, it remains among the five highest ever recorded, with all five occurring over the past two weeks.

“Unrealized profit at that scale is exposure. A cohort sitting on a record paper gain can turn into sellers the moment price wobbles,” the report stated.

IT Tech noted that short-term holder whales have historically been quick to take profits when opportunities emerge. As a result, the record level of unrealized gains could become a source of selling pressure if Bitcoin pulls back further.

“The cost basis structure argues the floor under this rally is real, but the unrealized gain sitting on top of it argues that the same floor is now being tested by its own success,” IT Tech added.

Bitcoin long-term holder on-chain activity surges

While whale profitability points to a potential source of downside pressure, separate on-chain data shows that long-term Bitcoin holders have also become more active during the recent consolidation.

CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost stated that activity among Bitcoin holders who have held for more than five years has increased, as the 90-day moving average of spent transaction outputs (STXOs) from this group climbed to 1,500 BTC.

According to Darkfost, the increase indicates that this group of long-term holders has been moving more Bitcoin over the past three months. The rise is notable compared with May, when these long-term holders were spending an average of roughly half that amount through their UTXOs.

“This consolidation period seems to have introduced some doubt across nearly every type of investor,” Darkfost noted.

However, the contributor cautioned against interpreting the increase in spent UTXOs as evidence that OG holders are necessarily selling.

“These movements certainly weren’t all sales. It’s possible that some of these investors moved their BTC to secure it,” Darkfost stated.

Darkfost also highlighted the recent Coldcard episode as one possible reason investors moved their holdings to more secure storage.

Bitcoin is trading at $79,300, down 1.2% in the past 24 hours at the time of writing.