Net Metrics Miss the Real Story as Long-Term Holders Spend 370,000 BTC Monthly

Bitcoin long-term holders (LTHs) have been far more active on-chain than net metrics alone suggest, with more than 370,000 BTC spent over the past month.

While many market observers cite approximately 144,000 BTC of net LTH distribution over the last 30 days, based on the Long-Term Holder Net Position Change metric, gross spending data reveals a significantly larger volume of coins in motion.

LTH Spending

According to Glassnode’s latest update, cumulative spent volume indicates that LTHs have been spending over 12,000 BTC per day on average during this period. This essentially amounts to more than 360,000-370,000 BTC in monthly outflows. The discrepancy arises from how net metrics are calculated.

The analytics firm explained that LTH Net Position Change represents a balance between two forces: coins newly maturing into long-term holder status from short-term holders (STHs), and coins spent by existing LTHs.

Over the last 30 days, Glassnode estimated that approximately 370,000 BTC were spent by LTHs, while around 226,000 BTC transitioned from STH to LTH status. The difference between these two figures results in a net LTH supply decline of about 144,000 BTC, which aligns with the widely cited net distribution figure.

The firm added that when coin maturation rates are high, net metrics can significantly understate the true scale of long-term holder distribution activity visible in gross on-chain flows.

Crypto Market Sell-Off

This holder activity was observed amid increased market volatility, as Bitcoin briefly plunged near $81,000, which happens to be its lowest level since November, as crypto markets saw a sharp sell-off. The drop followed steep US morning declines in gold and equities. While traditional markets recovered from their lows, cryptocurrencies have yet to stage a meaningful recovery. As a result, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which tracks sentiment across the crypto market, recorded an “extreme fear” score of 16.

Meanwhile, separate Glassnode data also revealed that the 90D-SMA Realized Profit/Loss Ratio has plummeted from a peak of 19 in July 2025 to just 1.7 today. This sharp decline signals a major shift in market demand and rising “investor frustration”.

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