Bitcoin hovers near $63,000 as older holders take losses

Bitcoin traded near $63,000 on Friday, keeping pressure on crypto portfolios as investors cut exposure to assets that can swing sharply when market confidence fades. The bigger signal for everyday investors is where the selling appears to be coming from: Glassnode data shows long-term holders are sending a large share of coins to exchanges while taking losses.

CoinGecko showed Bitcoin changing hands around $63,020, down about 1.7% on the day. That leaves the token roughly half below the $126,080 record it reached in October, according to CoinGecko data cited by Decrypt.

The move followed a failed attempt to stay above $65,000 on Wednesday. Bitcoin later fell to an intraday low of $62,640, according to Decrypt. Tim Sun, senior researcher at Hashkey, told Decrypt that the drop pushed Bitcoin below a $64,500 “put wall” linked to this week’s options expiry.

A put option is a contract that gives its holder the right to sell an asset at a set price. Open interest means contracts that are still outstanding. Sun described the $64,500 level as a large concentration of put open interest that had acted as short-term support before Bitcoin broke under it.

Macro pressure is weighing on Bitcoin

Sun told Decrypt that appetite for risk has cooled across markets, with global stocks pulling back and deleveraging hitting semiconductor and artificial-intelligence-linked assets. Deleveraging means investors are reducing borrowed exposure or cutting positions tied to leverage, which can intensify selling when prices fall.

That broader pressure is affecting crypto sentiment and reducing institutional exposure to Bitcoin, Sun said. Still, he told Decrypt that derivatives markets do not show crowded leverage. Derivatives are financial contracts tied to an underlying asset, while spot trading means buying or selling the asset itself. Sun said the current pressure is concentrated in spot markets.

Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, also framed the decline as part of a wider risk-off move. She told Decrypt the sell-off reflected investors stepping back from risk, and said she did not see it as evidence of weaker crypto-specific fundamentals.

Hathorn said Bitcoin has become more sensitive to the macro backdrop, including interest-rate expectations, geopolitical uncertainty and short-term shifts in investor mood. She also told Decrypt that the price action and market flows are sending mixed signals: the overnight move looked negative, while the broader setup appeared less bearish than the headline drop implied.

Long-term holders are selling into weakness

Glassnode data points to persistent pressure from older Bitcoin buyers. The analytics firm said more than 65% of coins flowing into exchanges are coming from long-term holders realizing losses. Exchange inflows are closely watched because coins sent to trading platforms are often viewed as potential supply for sale.

Glassnode said the pattern resembles earlier bear-market periods, when long-term holders drove a large share of selling before that pressure eventually faded. The firm said selling from buyers near the cycle top remains the main force in exchange flows until that share falls.

Sun told Decrypt that holders in the one-to-two-year range are gradually accepting losses and exiting positions. He said that selling has limited Bitcoin’s recovery, including after a recent U.S. inflation report that Decrypt described as encouraging.

This story draws on original reporting from Decrypt.