Bitcoin (BTC) investors are selling at a loss again for the first time since October 2023, according to CryptoQuant data.
Since December, holders have realized about 69,000 BTC in losses, worth roughly $6.1 billion at current prices. It reflects that a meaningful number of investors have been selling underwater positions instead of selling into strength.
Unlike profit-taking, which often happens during rallies and can be absorbed, loss-realization suggets that traders are giving up on a position while anticipating further losses.
It can increase pressure during pullbacks because the selling is not coming from confident traders trimming gains, but from investors trying to limit their losses overall.
CryptoQuant’s data further suggests this wasn’t a sudden switch.
Realized profits peaked in January 2024, then started making lower highs. That means each new wave of profit-taking was smaller than the one before it. Through 2025, those profit waves kept fading until the market finally tipped back into net loss-taking.
In the prior cycle, realized profits peaked in January 2021, then weakened through 2021. After that, realized losses started to show up as the market moved into the 2022 bear phase.
This does not prove Bitcoin is entering another 2022-style crash. But it does show a familiar pattern: first, fewer people are able or willing to take profits; later, more people are forced to sell at a loss.
When fewer investors are sitting on big gains, the market can become more fragile. Small drops can feel bigger because more holders are closer to break-even, or already below it.
Analyst AlejandroBTC also highlighted how Bitcoin has been repeatedly failing to reclaim prior support, turning it into overhead supply.
Each bounce is being sold sooner, which is typical when big holders use rallies to exit. Unless BTC breaks back above $100,000 and holds it, the path of least resistance remains down, with deeper support levels likely next.
Yashu Gola is a crypto journalist and analyst with expertise in digital assets, blockchain, and macroeconomics. He provides in-depth market analysis, technical chart patterns, and insights on global economic impacts. His work bridges traditional finance and crypto, offering actionable advice and educational content. Passionate about blockchain's role in finance, he studies behavioral finance to predict memecoin trends.