Bitcoin’s price dropped from around $7,100 to $4,000 in a two-day period last week, but long-term BTC hodlers weren’t to blame for the sell-off, data shows.
According to data from Unchained Capital, the majority of the funds moved came from addresses in which the funds had been for six months or less, with most of the funds that moved having been parked for anywhere between three and six months.
3/ A majority of the volatility came from UTXOs 6 months old or younger. Between 3/11 and 3/15, assuming 18.265m BTC, here's how much moved:
.64%, or ~116,900k BTC from 1-3 month
1.36%, or ~248,400k BTC from 3-6 month
.51%, or ~93,200 BTC from 6-12 month pic.twitter.com/eKEUcR4BGK— Unchained Capital (@unchainedcap) March 17, 2020
According to Unchained Capital’s analysis of blockchain data, the supply of BTC that hasn’t moved over the last five years or longer actually increased, from 20.37% of all circulating BTC to 21.65% or circulating BTC. Per Unchained Capital, around 233,600 BTC made up the difference.
The BTC that moved and ended up increasing selling pressure is believed to be the same that drove the market’s 2019 bull run, that saw the flagship cryptocurrency’s price hit a high above $12,000, before it started dropping. Earlier this month, it was testing the $10,000 mark before crashing.
From the funds that were parked for over five years, only around 3,650 BTC ended up moving. As CryptoGlobe reported, at least 1,000 BTC that were mined a decade ago moved amid the sell-off. The funds were tied to a user who asked for help moving the funds on the Bitcointalk forums.
The price drop, it’s worth noting, put pressure on miners who invested in more hashrate this year while competing for block rewards ahead of the upcoming halving event, which will cut rewards in half from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC per block. The halving event is expected to occur in May.
Featured image via Unsplash.
