Bitcoin demand has significantly weakened since April, but some indicators remain strong. According to data shared by CryptoQuant, the demand indicator recorded negative growth, while long-term investors‘ holdings reached record levels.
Significant Drop in Bitcoin Demand
Since April, a noticeable slowdown in Bitcoin demand has been observed. On-chain data shows a significant decrease in demand, turning to negative growth in August. CryptoQuant commented, “Bitcoin demand increase has still failed to recover sustainably for price recovery and new peaks.” The company noted that the demand indicator tracks the daily total BTC block reward earned by miners and the daily change in the number of BTC that have not moved for over a year.
Miners often turn to Bitcoin sales to cover operational costs, and the increase in sales from large investors indicates weak demand for the crypto king. However, Bitcoin’s price has largely remained flat in recent months. The selling pressure seen after the launch of several spot ETFs in January negatively affected market expectations.
Although the Bitcoin block reward halving in May and the start of ETF trading in January led some bulls to predict the price would reach $80,000 by June, contrary to expectations, the price has dropped by 20% since the historical peaks in May. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted a net inflow of $17.5 billion since their launch, but there are doubts about whether this flow is due to speculative trades or genuine bullish expectations.
The average daily Bitcoin purchases from spot ETFs in the US dropped to 1,300 last week from 12,500 in March when the price was trading above $70,000. During the same period, the growth rate of total holdings by large Bitcoin investors also fell from a monthly rate of 6% in March to just 1% now.
Long-Term Investors and Stablecoins
Still, some indicators managed to remain strong even during this weak price period. Long-term investors holding Bitcoin for more than six months continued accumulating, reaching a record level of 391,000 BTC. On the other hand, the total market value of stablecoins rose to $165 billion, reaching a new peak.
The increase in the market value of stablecoins indicates increased liquidity in the cryptocurrency market, which is generally considered a precursor to price rises.
