Bitcoin Holders Are Selling, But This Time It’s Different: What You Need to Know
Long-term Bitcoin holders are selling, but the pattern looks nothing like the last peak, and the difference raises a critical question about who is actually driving the current rally and whether it can hold.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) holders are starting to cash out, but the current trend of Bitcoin profit-taking in September 2026 doesn’t match what we’ve seen at previous market peaks. Long-term holders are enjoying an average gain of about 72% now, according to CryptoQuant, significantly lower than the whopping 350% seen in December 2024. This means that those who sold heavily during the last peak have far less incentive to sell today.
Interestingly, wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have increased their total by 113,950 BTC since July 15, according to Santiment. As of September 26, Bitcoin is trading near $84,100, up 4.6% over the past month. The price has risen despite the selling activity, but which group should Bitcoin holders watch?
Long-Term Holders Sold Far Harder at the 2025 Bitcoin Tops
In earlier market cycles, most selling pressure came from long-term holders—those who held Bitcoin for at least five months. These investors typically have the lowest purchase prices and the highest gains. When they sold during a rally, newer investors often bought at peak prices until demand ran out.
Glassnode tracks this selling activity using the sell-side risk ratio, which compares the profits and losses realized by holders with the total value of all coins. At the height of the market in July 2025, this ratio spiked to 35 basis points per day, and at the October 2025 peak, it was 23 basis points per day. By early September 2026, however, it had dropped to just 7.
Additionally, in early September, long-term holders accounted for only 47% of the realized profits, down from 88% at the peak in August. This indicates that the investors most likely to cash out are selling less, while Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) received $999 million in inflows on September 21, providing significant buyer support for any selling activity.
Mid-Sized Bitcoin Wallets Added 113,950 BTC Since July
According to Santiment, addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC—often owned by wealthy individuals, hedge funds, and trading firms—increased their holdings by 2.2% to around 5.24 million BTC between mid-July and late September.
However, wallet sizes can be misleading. A single fund may distribute its Bitcoins across multiple addresses, or an exchange may manage large amounts of customer coins in just one address. Therefore, the 113,950 BTC increase could indicate new purchases, coins moving between wallets, or a combination of both. Most trading occurs within exchange order books and may not reflect on-chain movements, meaning we can see mid-sized wallet growth without confirming new money entering the market.
Bitcoin Climbed Even as Treasury Yields Hit Their Highest Since 2007
Bitcoin’s previous bear market was also less severe than past ones. Glassnode noted that Bitcoin never fell below its realized price—the average price at which each coin last changed hands—and that the June low was the shallowest bear-market bottom since 2017. This situation allowed more committed holders to hold through the recent rally.
Bitcoin also climbed while U.S. Treasury yields rose. On September 15, the 10-year Treasury yield hit 5%, the highest it has been since 2007, offering a better return on safer government debt than Bitcoin, which pays no interest. Nevertheless, Bitcoin still gained 3.3% in the week leading up to September 26.
Currently, Bitcoin is on track for its first third-quarter winning streak since 2012. However, gains in one quarter don’t necessarily predict future performance; they simply reflect past outcomes.
What Makes Bitcoin Profit-Taking Different This Time?
The biggest difference this time is who is selling and how much they are selling. Long-term holders are cashing out at only about a fifth of the pace seen at the peak in July 2025. Their average gains of 72% today are far less than the 350% seen in December 2024. These sellers’ behavior is a more telling sign of market dynamics than the increase in mid-sized wallet holdings, since those balances alone don’t clarify who is buying.
Things could change if long-term holders ramp up selling to 2025 levels, or if 100- to 1,000-BTC wallets start offloading the coins they accumulated since mid-July. Notably, long-term holders bought around 1.07 million BTC between $83,000 and $86,000. If the price drops below $83,000, it could put these buyers at a loss and prompt them to sell.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
