Bitcoin Short-Term Holders Deposit $3.6 Billion in BTC to Exchanges at a Loss

Short-term Bitcoin holders transferred roughly 47,300 BTC to cryptocurrency exchanges at a loss over a single 24-hour window, worth about $3.6 billion combined with profit-making deposits at Bitcoin's price near $74,000. That figure comes from CryptoQuant's short-term holder profit-and-loss chart, which recorded only about 1,100 BTC arriving at a profit over the same period — a ratio of more than 40 to one.

The transfers, not completed sales, add to concerns about selling pressure as Bitcoin slides from its late-September highs above $85,000 into the low-$70,000 range. Depositing Bitcoin to an exchange often precedes a sale, but some inflows fund trading into other tokens, collateral posting or other services, and CryptoQuant's data cannot establish how much of the transferred coins were subsequently sold.

Who is sending the coins?

The chart tracks short-term holders, a group CryptoQuant defines as investors holding Bitcoin for less than 155 days. These buyers carry the greatest exposure to a sharp reversal, especially once their holdings fall below acquisition cost. A buyer who paid $80,000 holds a paper loss of roughly 7.5% with Bitcoin trading at $74,000; selling at that level locks the loss in.

In a November 11 CryptoQuant analysis, contributor Amr Taha identified two large waves of underwater deposits over the prior week: 50,790 BTC on November 3 and 46,060 BTC on November 10.

"On November 10, profitable transfers stood near 1,700 BTC, meaning approximately 27 BTC arrived at a loss for every 1 BTC transferred at a profit," Taha wrote.

The imbalance shows investors moving coins to exchanges are overwhelmingly doing so below their acquisition prices rather than cashing in gains from the earlier rally. The pattern has repeated for several months, with recurring spikes in loss-making transfers as Bitcoin's price swung. The latest spike sits near the deepest readings visible since July.

What is arriving at Binance?

A separate CryptoQuant chart breaks down deposits to Binance by the time since each coin last moved on-chain. Coins last moved one day to one week earlier delivered 3,290 BTC on November 1, followed by a much larger 8,114 BTC from the same age cohort on November 3.

On November 9, Binance received 1,925 BTC from coins last moved one to three months earlier, according to Taha's analysis. The age breakdown identifies which cohorts are active but does not reveal when owners originally purchased their Bitcoin. The Binance chart covers one exchange; the profit-and-loss charts track short-term holders across exchanges more broadly.

Is longer-term supply also underwater?

The weakness extends beyond recent buyers. Glassnode identified approximately 4 million BTC held by longer-term investors that was acquired between $85,000 and $118,000, leaving another pocket of underwater supply sitting above current prices.

That supply overhang shapes the market structure ahead: if Bitcoin stabilizes near $74,000, roughly 4 million BTC in longer-term hands regains profitability only on a move back above $85,000, while short-term holders' loss-making deposit spikes — 50,790 BTC on November 3 and 46,060 BTC on November 10 — mark the price bands where capitulation has concentrated.