Bitcoin Hits Resistance Again as Realized Profits Reach $2.6B Per Day

BTC hit $71,375 on March 26, returning close to its all-time high of $73,738 earlier this month, but it failed to break through to a new peak.

This was largely due to profit-taking, which has accelerated, according to on-chain analytics provider Glassnode.

“Several on-chain indicators have flagged an uptick in profit-taking events,” the firm noted in its weekly update. With more than $2.6 billion in realized profit taken, the market has reached resistance, it added.

As the #Bitcoin market hits resistance at a new ATH of $73k, the Long-Term Holder cohort have ramped up their overall distribution pressure.

The market is currently seeing over $2.6B/day in realized profit, as investors start to take chips off the table.

Discover more in the… pic.twitter.com/YHXRnbUnFR

— glassnode (@glassnode) March 26, 2024

Profit-Taking Typical Behavior

On March 26, Glassnode observed that Bitcoin’s 16% correction was almost identical to the pre-halving pullback in the previous cycle.

It added that the majority of the 2 million BTC that switched from a status of being ‘in-profit’ to being ‘in-loss’ during the retrace now have a cost basis above $61.2K and have recently changed hands.

As the market reached its peak level, more than $2.6 billion in realized profit was locked in via on-chain spending, Glassnode reported .

Moreover, around 40% of this profit-taking was attributed to long-term holders, “which includes investors divesting from the GBTC Trust.”

Grayscale’s GBTC has shed 277,393 BTC since it was converted to a spot ETF in mid-January, with another $212 million in outflows measured on March 26. However, the newly launched nine ETFs have swallowed up that outflow and more.

The remaining $1.56 billion in realized profit was locked in by short-term holders, it added. Traders were taking advantage of the inflowing liquidity and market momentum, mirroring previous cycle peaks.

“Realized profit by both cohorts has reached a similar magnitude to during the 2021 bull market peak.”

Glassnode concluded that profit-taking was “not atypical market behavior” and aligns very closely with market patterns observed during all prior cycle all-time high breakouts.

Elsewhere on Crypto Markets

BTC was trading flat on the day at around $70,000 at the time of writing as markets took a breather. At current levels, it is just 4.6% down from its March 14 peak price.

Total capitalization was $2.79 trillion, just 9.4% away from its peak of $3.08 trillion in November 2021.

Most of the altcoins were also flat during the Wednesday morning Asian trading session. However, BNB, XRP , AVAX, and TON were retreating slightly as DOGE, SHIB, and ICP saw marginal gains.