Analyst: Rise in BTC long-term holdings is a lagging indicator

The share of BTC held by long-term holders continues to increase, but this does not signal new accumulation, according to on-chain analyst Darkfost. He noted that long-term holders currently possess about 15.6 million BTC, representing approximately 78% of the total circulating supply. Historically, these holders have significantly influenced price movements by selling large volumes at cycle peaks. The current rise in long-term holdings reflects BTC purchased around six months ago near the $90,000 price level. Darkfost suggested this increase could grow larger in August, as it will begin to include coins accumulated when Bitcoin's price fell below $60,000 in early February. This will also help confirm whether genuine buying pressure existed during that market dip. However, he cautioned against interpreting this metric as a sign of new buying from long-term holders. This is because UTXO (unspent transaction output) based indicators only classify BTC that has not moved for more than six months as a long-term holding. The main takeaway at this point, he explained, is that the volume of BTC newly qualifying as long-term holdings is outpacing the volume being sold by this cohort.