These Bitcoin holders briefly experienced pain – Here’s what happened

• Bitcoin’s LTH-SOPR recently fell under 1.
• This showed that the coin’s long-term holders briefly sold at a loss.

Bitcoin’s [BTC] Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) for its long-term holders (LTH) recently slipped below 1. This indicated that this cohort of investors briefly sold their holdings at a loss.

Long-Term Holder Spent Output Profit Ratio (LTH-SOPR) is a metric used to gauge the profitability of long-term holders of a crypto asset. It offers insights into whether investors who have held a particular asset for over twelve months are in a profitable position or otherwise.

When this metric returns a value above 1, it indicates that BTC long-term holders, on average, are selling their coins at a profit. Conversely, when it falls below 1, it suggests that these holders are selling at a loss.

The details 

AMBCrypto found that on 30th November, the LTH-SOPR fell to 0.96. It then reclaimed its position above the zero line.

At press time, this metric stood at 1.61. This suggested that that investors who have held BTC for over 12 months were back to trading at a profit. 

Source: CryptoQuant

As for the coin’s short-term holders, in a recent report, pseudonymous CryptoQuant analyst Crypto Hell noted that their SOPR is also “dipping close to 1.”

“In this consolidated price situation, tons of traders push themselves into spot or derivative markets. If their analysis goes wrong, it’s losses. That could drop the STH-SOPR ratio, indicating short-term traders selling at a loss.”

According to the analyst, a consistent decline in the SOPR of the two classes of investors typically results in a decline in BTC’s price. 

“Seems like if we look at both ratios where they’re okay with selling at a loss, it hints at a correction towards $33,000,” the analyst opined.

Price at 18-months high

During the trading session on 1st December, BTC’s price rallied above $38,000 for the first time since May 2022. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency exchanged hands at $38,800, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

The unexpected price hike above $38,000 resulted in the liquidations of some short positions on the coin’s futures market.

Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price Prediction 2023-24

Liquidation data assessed by AMBCrypto showed that within the last 24 hours, short positions worth $24 million were liquidated. 

With significant bullish sentiments present in the BTC market, its open interest has climbed by 8%, according to data from Coinglass.