The pace of profit-taking by veteran Bitcoin (BTC) holders has cooled off in August as they resist selling, signaling a shift in market dynamics after a record-breaking July.
Data shared by on-chain analytics platform Glassnode shows realized profits by long-term holders, measured over a seven-day moving average, have dipped sharply from July’s $1 billion per day streak, which had marked one of the heaviest selling periods in the asset’s history.
Long-Term Holders Dig In After Historic Profit Run
According to Glassnode, unlike the profit-taking waves between November and December 2024, which were dominated by short-term holders who had bought BTC six to twelve months before, the latest activity is being led by long-term holders, especially those who’ve been hoarding the OG cryptocurrency since the 2020-2022 cycle. These three-to-five-year investors are now realizing gains, while the rest appear content to ride out current price levels, despite it hovering near the all-time high of $123,091 set just weeks ago.
On-chain indicators are also pointing to changing market composition. Recent CryptoQuant data revealed an increase in smaller, retail-sized orders dominating BTC futures activity, with the number of institutional-sized whale trades dropping since late Q2 2025.
While in previous cycles, markets dominated near their peaks by heavyweight buyers were often seen as signs of distribution phases, the current retail-heavy structure could allow prices to test new highs unless a renewed wave of large holders offloads their positions.
Meanwhile, network growth remains strong. Earlier today, analyst Ali Martinez tweeted that more than 364,000 new BTC addresses were created daily last week. He said that it was the highest figure in a year, suggesting fresh retail participation even as institutional flows momentarily taper off.
Cooling Momentum?
Looking at the market, at the time of this writing, BTC was changing hands for about $121,224, up a modest 2.6% in the last 24 hours and a more solid 5.9% over seven days, after briefly surpassing $122,000 in intraday moves.
While the uptick is a more impressive 97.9% year-on-year, zooming in shows BTC’s momentum softening compared to its July surge. In the last two weeks, the number one crypto rose by a modest 1.9%, with the improvement over 30 days being just 2.6%.
The cooling narrative is strengthened by recent market metrics, with CryptoQuant’s Bull Score Index falling from 80 to 60 on August 10, suggesting a slowdown in the bullish phase. Additionally, stablecoin inflows have gone down, a likely indicator that there is little capital coming into crypto at the moment.
