Share this article
Bitcoin's Drop on Thursday Spurred Panic Sales Among Short-Term Holders: Van Straten
Over $2 billion worth of bitcoin was sent to exchanges at a loss on Thursday, the most since August's yen carry trade unwind, as bitcoin fell below $70,000.
Updated Nov 1, 2024, 4:43 p.m. Published Nov 1, 2024, 11:23 a.m.
- On Thursday, short-term holders sent over $2 billion worth of bitcoin to exchanges at a loss, the most since the yen carry trade unwind on Aug. 5.
- In the past three days, short-term holders sent more than $6 billion worth of bitcoin to exchanges at a profit, locking in gains as the month drew to a close.
Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this piece owns bitcoin.
Short-term holders of bitcoin sent about $2.3 billion, some 32,000 tokens, of the largest cryptocurrency to exchanges at a loss on Thursday as the price dropped below $70,000 after approaching an all-time high earlier in the week.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The panic selling was the most since Aug. 5's yen carry trade unwind. Short-term holders — investors who have held bitcoin for less than 155 days — tend to panic and sell when the price drops, and buy when there is euphoria or greed in the market. In total, they sent over 54,000 BTC to exchanges on Thursday, the highest amount since Mar. 27.
A number of factors may be playing into the recent drop, which has taken BTC to about 6% below its record.
A U.S. presidential election is coming on Nov. 5, with investors most likely reducing their exposure to risk, which they tend to do on the last day of the month.
We also witnessed an almost $1 trillion wipeout of the U.S. stock market on Thursday, with every one of the so-called magnificent seven tech stocks in the red.
Breaking down Thursday's 54,000 bitcoin into profit and loss, CoinDesk research has shown continued profit-taking as bitcoin inched closer to March's record high. On Thursday, 22,000 BTC was sent to exchanges in profit, and over the past three days, over $6 billion of bitcoin was sent to exchanges in profit. Bitcion rose 11% last month.
Considering the 155-day timespan to be considered in this category, the investors would have most likely bought this week. Bitcoin rose above $70,000 in May and July and holders then didn't seem phased by the subsequent 20% drawdowns, a sign they're not likely to be shaken out by a 6% price drop.
Due to uncertainty around the U.S. election, bitcoin will likely not reach new all-time highs until after result is known.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Trump’s Security Strategy: Impact on Bitcoin, Gold, Bond Yields
The White House's new National Security Strategy emphasizes increased global fiscal expansion and military spending.
What to know:
- The White House's new National Security Strategy emphasizes increased global fiscal expansion and military spending.
- NATO allies are urged to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP, significantly higher than the previous 2% mandate.
- Heightened government borrowing could lead to higher bond yields and inflation, complicating interest rate cuts.
Top Stories
