Bitcoin’s long-term holder (LTH) supply is nearing all-time highs. Currently, 16.3 million BTC are held by this cohort, defined as investors who have held Bitcoin for at least 155 days.
LTH supply has increased from 14.12 million BTC at the time bitcoin hit a record high of over $126,000 in October, to the current 16.3 million BTC. In the last month alone, LTH supply has increased by approximately 200,000 BTC.
The only other time LTH supply was higher was in January 2024, when it reached 16.4 million BTC ahead of the launch of the Bitcoin Spot ETF in the United States, one of the most anticipated events in Bitcoin history. In the months that followed, nearly 2 million BTC were distributed by this cohort as bitcoin recovered.
Typically, during periods of weak prices or bear market conditions, long-term holders, often considered the smartest investors, begin to increase their exposure after disinvesting during the previous bull market. During the bear markets of 2015 and 2019, LTH supply increased as investors piled in during price weakness.
However, since the ETF launched in January 2024, the supply of LTH has fluctuated widely between 14 million and 16 million BTC. Today, it appears to have broken a 2.5-year downtrend, suggesting that long-term holders are once again accumulating rather than distributing during Bitcoin’s price decline.
