key takeaways
- Long-Term Holders Continue to Sit on Their Bitcoin Stolen
- Two-thirds of the supply hasn’t changed in the past year, despite massive volatility and falling bitcoin prices
- More than half the supply has not been used in 2 years or more
“Supply Squeeze” Is a Seductive Phrase That Gets Thrown Around Bitcoin Enthusiastic.
This refers to the prediction of an upward movement of the bitcoin supply as a result of the supply cap – there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins – and a continued increase in demand.
Whether it comes to fruition remains to be seen. But it appears that there is a growing group of bitcoin investors that is holding on. In fact, more than two-thirds of the entire supply has not moved in more than a year, the highest level ever.
To be precise, 67.9% of the bitcoin supply hasn’t moved in over a year. That’s a lot, especially when considering the past year has brought its fair share of scandals, including related crashes triggered by LUNA, Celsius, and FTX.
Combine these scams with the sharpest monetary tightening in the wider economy, which has seen interest rates hover around zero to close to 5%, and the crypto market has been plundered.
Looking at price action over the past 12 months, bitcoin has fallen from $41,000 to $15,000 and is now trading at $28,000, with more than its fair share of volatility in between. And yet, two-thirds of the supply has been stagnant.
Further branches, now more than half of the supply has not moved in two years, about 40% have not moved in three years, while 28% have been stable for 5 years.
Of course, lost coins would be included in all of these statistics. Bitcoin has been around since 2009, and that means people have died, and with them their access to their coins has disappeared.
There are also simple cases of keys being lost, with people still roaming the earth but with no access to their wallet. Let us not forget that until recently bitcoin was just a niche internet plaything, trading for less than $1 per coin.
Not to mention, Satoshi Nakamoto’s massive hoard of an estimated 1 million coins, or over 5% of the entire supply, remains untouched and is included in the above statistics.
So what make of it, but bitcoin still remains quite a unique market and with dwindling supply, it is easy to see the narrative pushed by enthusiasts that if demand continues to rise, the price will only go up. .
Of course, whether that demand will actually keep growing is another question entirely, and a very difficult one to answer.