Bitcoin holders who bought recently are flooding exchanges with coins worth less than they paid, a pattern that analysts say could add to selling pressure as the largest cryptocurrency trades near $74,000.
On-chain data compiled by CryptoQuant shows roughly 47,300 BTC arriving at exchanges at a loss within a 24-hour window, against only about 1,100 BTC deposited at a profit. Total inflows for the day came to approximately 48,500 BTC, or about $3.6 billion at a Bitcoin price of $74,000.
The transfers are concentrated among short-term holders, a group CryptoQuant defines as investors who have held their coins for fewer than 155 days. These buyers tend to react fastest to price swings, and with Bitcoin down from late-September highs above $85,000, many of their positions are now underwater.
CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha flagged two large waves of loss-making deposits in the past week: 50,790 BTC on November 3 and 46,060 BTC on November 10. “On November 10, profitable transfers stood near 1,700 BTC, meaning approximately 27 BTC arrived at a loss for every 1 BTC transferred at a profit,” Taha wrote.
That ratio is unusually lopsided and marks one of the deepest readings on the firm’s short-term holder profit-and-loss chart since July. A buyer who paid $80,000 would be sitting on a paper loss of roughly 7.5% with Bitcoin at $74,000, and selling at that level would lock in the loss.
Deposits to Binance, the largest exchange by trading volume, show a similar pattern when sorted by the age of the coins. According to the CryptoQuant analysis, 3,290 BTC arrived on November 1 from coins last moved on-chain one day to one week earlier, followed by 8,114 BTC in the same category on November 3. On November 9, the platform received 1,925 BTC from coins last moved one to three months earlier.
Those figures identify which age groups are active but do not establish when the owners originally bought their Bitcoin. More broadly, exchange inflows measure movement, not completed sales: coins can be sent to an exchange to be swapped for other tokens, pledged as collateral or put to other uses. The data does not show how much of the transferred Bitcoin was ultimately sold.
| Date | Total BTC Inflow | BTC at Loss | BTC at Profit | Main Exchange |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 3 | 50,790 | 50,790 | N/A | Multiple |
| Nov 10 | 46,060 | 46,060 | 1,700 | Multiple |
| Nov 3 | 8,114 | N/A | N/A | Binance |
Note: Binance figure covers coins last moved on-chain one day to one week before deposit. Profit-and-loss figures track short-term holders across exchanges.
The pressure is not confined to recent buyers. Glassnode, another blockchain analytics firm, estimates that about 4 million BTC are held by longer-term investors who acquired their coins between $85,000 and $118,000, leaving a substantial pool of supply above the current price. If those holders decide to sell, the overhang could weigh on any rebound.
For now, the market’s next move hinges on whether the wave of loss-making deposits turns into actual sales or whether holders choose to sit on their positions and wait for a recovery. The recurring spikes in underwater transfers in recent months suggest short-term holders are quick to move coins when prices fall, a dynamic that raises the risk of further weakness.