Bitcoin short-term holders send 47K BTC to exchanges at loss

Bitcoin short-term holders transferred over 47,000 BTC to exchanges on Tuesday, coinciding with the cryptocurrency reaching an 11-week low. These coins were valued below their acquisition price at the time of transfer, indicating sales at a loss.

Data from CryptoQuant revealed that the 24-hour total of 47,025 BTC with unrealized losses sent to exchanges was the third highest recorded since July. This activity occurred as Bitcoin‘s price dropped to $72,670, marking its lowest point since August 20.

Bitcoin short-term holders are defined as entities holding BTC for up to 155 days and are typically more inclined to sell during price declines, even at a loss. CryptoQuant noted that on November 10, approximately 27 BTC arrived at a loss for every 1 BTC transferred at a profit.

The largest 24-hour inflows of BTC carrying unrealized losses since late July occurred on October 8, shortly after Bitcoin's price fell to $80,000, with rolling 24-hour inflows peaking at 50,500 BTC. Short-term holders had moved into an aggregate unrealized profit on August 20 when Bitcoin rebounded towards $80,000, but they returned to an aggregate unrealized loss on the preceding Friday.

CryptoQuant's head of research, Julio Moreno, indicated that a sustained break below $73,000, followed by an unsuccessful retest of that level from below, would reinforce the assessment of a continuing broader downtrend for Bitcoin. He suggested that if price rallies consistently stall near the cohort's cost basis and net unrealized losses increase, the August rebound could be viewed as a temporary pause within a larger downtrend.

The average cost basis for short-term holders was previously reported to be around $75,700. CryptoQuant's net unrealized profit/loss (NUPL) metric showed that short-term holders achieved their highest level of unrealized profitability since November 2025 as Bitcoin climbed to $87,200 in September.