Bitcoin price tanks as short-term holders capitulate, echoing August 2024 crash, analysts say

A wave of short-term holder capitulation is now driving Bitcoin’s price lower, reinforcing bearish pressure, analysts at Glassnode warn. The price of Bitcoin ( BTC ) is now under strong selling pressure as short-term holders have started offloading their coins at a loss, much like past market downturns, according to a Glassnode research report. Since January, the accumulation trend has remained weak, showing that buyers aren’t stepping in to absorb the sell-off. Bitcoin accumulation trend score | Source: Glassnode The decline has lined up with Bitcoin’s slide from $108,000 to $93,000, what has triggered concerns about fading demand, Glassnode wrote in a March 11 report . Market confidence weakened further in late February as external risks, including the Bybit cyberattack and rising U.S. tariff tensions, added uncertainty. “Unlike the earlier phase, there was no significant dip-buying response this time, indicating that sentiment had shifted toward risk aversion and capital preservation rather than continued accumulation.” Glassnode You might also like: Miners forced to sell Bitcoin as rising costs squeeze profitability Short-term holders are taking the biggest hit as Bitcoin’s price drops, the data shows. Since falling below $95,000, most recent buyers have been selling at a loss. At its worst, the selling pressure pushed the short-term holder spent output profit ratio — tracks if short-term holders sell at profit or loss — to 0.97 when Bitcoin crashed to $78,000, showing the extent of the panic. Bitcoin’s short-term holder coin days destroyed metric | Source: Glassnode Another key metric, short-term holder coin days destroyed, confirms panic-driven selling, Glassnode says, adding that the recent sell-off by top buyers “has driven this indicator to -12.8K coin days per hour, reflecting intense loss realization and a moderate capitulation event.” “A similar pattern emerged in August 2024, when Bitcoin plunged to $49k amid market stress and macro uncertainty. The current structure suggests a comparable capitulation phase.” Glassnode With Bitcoin now trading near key cost-basis levels, the analysts suggested that the market could enter a consolidation phase before finding firm support. Read more: Whale buying ramped up as Bitcoin struggled below $80K