On-chain data shows that long-term holders of Bitcoin are now holding more supply underwater even from the lowest point of the 2022 bear market.
Long-term holders of Bitcoin are experiencing the most pain since the coronavirus collapse
As lead research analyst at Glassnode CryptoVizArt explained at X maillong-term Bitcoin holders have seen a spike in loss supply following the recent price collapse.
“Long term owners“(LTHs) refer to BTC investors who have held their coins for longer than 155 days. These holders compensate one of the two main sections of the network based on waiting time. The other side, which contains investors who have purchased within the past five months, are known as Short Term Holders (STHs).
Statistically speaking, the longer investors keep their coins idle, the less likely they are to sell them in the future. As such, LTHs with a relatively long holding period are considered to include firm hands in the market.
Currently, LTH Group’s 155-day pause puts the buy point ahead of January. BTC has been trading above the last spot price throughout 2024, so a notable number of members of the group will be underwater for the time being.
Below is the chart shared by CryptoVizArt that shows the exact amount of supply held at loss by Bitcoin LTHs.
The value of the metric appears to have shot up in recent days | Source: @CryptoVizArt on X
As can be seen in the chart, the amount of Bitcoin LTH supply held rose at some net unrealized losses as the cryptocurrency’s price observed a downward shift in Q4 2025. Another sharp rise in the metric this year came alongside the price collapse in February, which took its value near the highs of the 2022 bear market.
Now, the recent price collapse has led to further expansion in the index, with LTHs carrying 5.3 million BTC at a loss. From the chart, this level appears to be higher than the high recorded at the following lows FTX crash.
In fact, this value is higher than other bear markets as well. The only period in which the supply loss of LTHs exceeded this level was the induced collapse Covid-19 In March 2020.
In the past, extreme readings in the gauge typically coincided with market lows and reversals in its value led to a trend change. “The size of the underwater LTH supply indicates that the resolution process is still underway,” the analyst noted.
It now remains to be seen whether Bitcoin LTH loss will reach higher levels in this cycle or whether a turnaround will occur next.
Bitcoin price
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $64,000, down more than 13% over the past week.
The trend in the price of the coin over the past five days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image by Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
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