Bitcoin long-term holders realize bigger profits than any cycle except 2017 peak

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Bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) investors who have held for months or years are cashing out at a pace not seen since the crypto market's 2017 peak, with realized profits this cycle already topping the 2021 run, Glassnode data showed Wednesday.

Market participants who have held bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) for at least 155 days have booked 3.27M bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) in profits this cycle, compared with 3.93M coins in the 2016-2017 cycle.

The outsized profit-taking highlights "elevated sell-side pressure," the blockchain analytics platform wrote in a post on X. "Taken alongside other signals, this suggests the market has entered a late phase of the cycle," Glassnode added [https://x.com/glassnode/status/1960354044289167672/photo/1].

Note that bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) trades at far higher valuations now relative to prior cycles, with its price hovering around $111K at press time. That means fewer tokens need to be sold to generate comparable or greater dollar-denominated gains.

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