On-chain data shows that short-term Bitcoin holders transferred large amounts of their tokens to exchanges in parallel with the asset’s recovery rally.
Short-term Bitcoin holders made profit trades with exchanges
new post At X, CryptoQuant Community Analyst Maartunn talks about the latest trends in Bitcoin exchange deposit trading Short Term Holder (STH).
STH includes BTC investors who purchased the coin within the last 155 days. These account for one of the two main aspects of the network divided based on retention time, the other side is known as . Long Term Holder (LTH).
Historically, the STH cohort has proven to represent market underdogs that easily react to market volatility. In contrast, LTH includes a sector diamond hand.
Bitcoin has been on a recovery trend recently, so given STH’s track record, a sell-off from STH may have occurred. One way to track distribution from a group is to use exchange inflow data.
Below is a chart shared by Maartunn that shows the exchange deposit transactions Bitcoin STH has made over the past few months.
The graph shows STH exchange inflows divided into profit and loss trades based on whether the holder had unrealized losses before sending the token to the exchange.
From the chart, it is clear that STH exchange deposit trading profits surged in 24 hours as the cryptocurrency rose, reaching a high of 41,800 BTC. On the other hand, the inflow of loss exchange decreased and fell to the lowest level of 1,800 BTC. Therefore, the focus of selling STH seems to have largely shifted to profit-taking.
While some STHs may be reaping profits, the entire cohort is still in net unrealized losses as Bitcoin trades below STH realized profits, as highlighted by analysts in another X. post.
”realized price” is an on-chain metric that measures the average cost base across Bitcoin investors or addresses. The STH version specifically tracks the break-even level of supply purchased within the past 155 days.
As shown in the chart above, Bitcoin spot price plummeted below the STH realized price during the Q4 2025 drawdown. Since then, it has remained below the STH realized price, although the latest rally brought it closer. The value of the indicator currently stands at $99,412.
BTC price
Bitcoin has fallen from highs of over $97,000 earlier this week and is currently trading around $94,600.
