Glassnode: super-majority of Bitcoin investors are now holding unrealized profit

[Dave1]

According to Glassnode, super-majority of Bitcoin investors are now holding a  $1.2T in unrealized profits.

Following a recovery to $107k, a super-majority of Bitcoin investors are now holding unrealized profits. In total, the unrealized profit held across investors sits at a staggering $1.2T.

https://insights.glassnode.com/the-week-onchain-week-26-2025/

But the thing is, this super majority is not going to sell anytime. It might include the majority of us here who are just keep HODLing Bitcoin and perhaps the only time that we might want to sell is in the last quarter of the year when the price hits around $150k or higher.

So I guess this numbers is a good sign for everyone that there are a lot of HODLers and gone are the days that their is panic around when there is a negative news or FUD.

[wheeljunkie]

If the price is at ATH or near ATH, then almost everyone is in profit. I don't get what is news about this?

$1.2T in unrealized profits.

I don't think it is possible to make a good estimate of this. On chain it is not often possible to make a difference between a OTC purchase and just someone sending their coins to a new wallet. And it is even harder with exchange databases, because you don't know what is going on there once a user deposit money.

But the thing is, this super majority is not going to sell anytime. It might include the majority of us here who are just keep HODLing Bitcoin and perhaps the only time that we might want to sell is in the last quarter of the year when the price hits around $150k or higher.

Nobody knows where the price will land at, there are too many unknowns still but the environment looks promising.

[adultcrypto]

If the price is at ATH or near ATH, then almost everyone is in profit. I don't get what is news about this?

I don't know how this is any serious news when we already know that when bitcoin reaches ATH, everyone will be in profits. Furthermore, I don't know from which entry point they are using as reference in this analysis because we know that people have different entry points so there should be a reference point from which we can estimate the volume of purchase made and then the profits from that purchase. If they are judging from inception of bitcoin, then it because useless statistics since the market capitalization already contains all the information and a simple multiplication of the total minted bitcoin and the price already give us the equivalent information.

[BlackBoss_]

According to Glassnode, super-majority of Bitcoin investors are now holding a  $1.2T in unrealized profits.

But the thing is, this super majority is not going to sell anytime. It might include the majority of us here who are just keep HODLing Bitcoin and perhaps the only time that we might want to sell is in the last quarter of the year when the price hits around $150k or higher.

They know that they are lucky to join earlier than other institutional investors that only participated in this market in two latest market cycles. Entry prices of newcomers are higher and will continue to be higher in future years, so senior whales are smart and also experienced to know that if they sell their bitcoins, others will purchase those coins, and with more investors joining this market, supply won't be enough to meet demand.

Hence, chances of buying bitcoin back at similar price or cheaper price is really small. To avoid that headache and also bitcoin loss, they simply hold their bitcoin very tightly and determinantly wait for better prices in future cycles.

So I guess this numbers is a good sign for everyone that there are a lot of HODLers and gone are the days that their is panic around when there is a negative news or FUD.

FUDs always exist but you can prepare yourself and Debunk Bitcoin FUDs.
https://endthefud.org/

[Die_empty]

But the thing is, this super majority is not going to sell anytime. It might include the majority of us here who are just keep HODLing Bitcoin and perhaps the only time that we might want to sell is in the last quarter of the year when the price hits around $150k or higher.

So I guess this numbers is a good sign for everyone that there are a lot of HODLers and gone are the days that their is panic around when there is a negative news or FUD.

This might be because we have more institutional investors buying and hodling Bitcoin.  Many of them have long-term objectives,  hence they might not be willing to sell even during this bull run. Companies like MicroStrategy don't have any plan to sell, and others who have invested recently might also have the same goal.

Hence, chances of buying bitcoin back at similar price or cheaper price is really small. To avoid that headache and also bitcoin loss, they simply hold their bitcoin very tightly and determinantly wait for better prices in future cycles.

Those who were hoping that Bitcoin would drop to a level they want might never be able to buy because the price might never go down drastically like in the past bear market.

[wheeljunkie]

They know that they are lucky to join earlier than other institutional investors that only participated in this market in two latest market cycles. Entry prices of newcomers are higher and will continue to be higher in future years, so senior whales are smart and also experienced to know that if they sell their bitcoins, others will purchase those coins, and with more investors joining this market, supply won't be enough to meet demand.

What does luck have to do with this? This is not gambling or playing the lottery. There were many people who were strongly convinced about Bitcoin as soon as they found out about it. That is not luck.

So I guess this numbers is a good sign for everyone that there are a lot of HODLers and gone are the days that their is panic around when there is a negative news or FUD.

FUDs always exist but you can prepare yourself and Debunk Bitcoin FUDs.
https://endthefud.org/

New FUD will never stop coming pretty much.

[logfiles]

The only difference is the price, but even in the past when bitcoin was near or smashed past the previous all-time high, the majority of investors would be holding unrealized profits. Note that the key word is unrealized profits. Until you sell, it shouldn't be considered profit as of now.

I am just waiting to see how things work out after this 4th Cycle. Will we have that usual market plunge that sets off a new period of the bear market, or shall the institutional players absorb the shock?

[Zaguru12]

The only difference is the price, but even in the past when bitcoin was near or smashed past the previous all-time high, the majority of investors would be holding unrealized profits. Note that the key word is unrealized profits. Until you sell, it shouldn't be considered profit as of now.

I am just waiting to see how things work out after this 4th Cycle. Will we have that usual market plunge that sets off a new period of the bear market, or shall the institutional players absorb the shock?

Little question I usually have related to bitcoin having an unrealized profit, is it truly an unrealized profit when treated as a currency or when 1 bitcoin = 1 bitcoin, in this regard been a currency I don’t think there any unrealized profit. But I get it bitcoin has been heavily used more as an asset for investment rather than been a currency. So as an asset except converted to fiat many of bitcoin will be unrealized profits then except those yet to be mined.

I think after the 4th cycle we will still have the usual bearish trend because I don’t see anything currently that will change the historical trend, personally I think the market during this bearish phase will be a little bit different from the previous ones, the difference will be coming from the fact that there wouldn’t be heavy dip of market because most institutions now wouldn’t be selling as such we would hardly see a -60% dump of price like we use to see.

[Free Market Capitalist]

Some of us will be holding for much longer for much more unrealized profit.

[AVE5]

If the price is at ATH or near ATH, then almost everyone is in profit. I don't get what is news about this?

I don't know how this is any serious news when we already know that when bitcoin reaches ATH, everyone will be in profits. Furthermore, I don't know from which entry point they are using as reference in this analysis because we know that people have different entry points so there should be a reference point from which we can estimate the volume of purchase made and then the profits from that purchase. If they are judging from inception of bitcoin, then it because useless statistics since the market capitalization already contains all the information and a simple multiplication of the total minted bitcoin and the price already give us the equivalent information.

The data is gotten from the on-chain analytical ratios which details about annual profits in the bitcoin blockchain.
This might not necessarily mean a lot but it's quite important to have estimates of how much profits investors or community users had acquired from the market in a specific time since bitcoin transactions is running in public ledger.
Giving this reference a useful remark could be if or when economists or analysts tends to compare the federal reserve Note like the USD and Gold and then also considering the decentralized assets such as bitcoin.
Inclusively, the key idea of this analysis is when looking out to these bound treasures and their purchasing power to figure which asset has much been profitable to investors, federation and even institutions who may had been buying and hodling for reserve or short term goal.

[Smartprofit]

There is a lot of fiat money in the world now. There are also a lot of all kinds of derivatives, overvalued stocks and other similar assets in the world. Therefore, I am personally not surprised that Bitcoin holders now have a very large unrealized profit. At the same time, I do not rule out that the price will fall below 100,000 US dollars in the near future. This is a possible scenario. Many are expecting the price of the first cryptocurrency to rise in the fall of 2025. That is why I believe that there will be no growth during this period of time. After this disappointment, scared investors will start selling their coins in the winter of 2025. However, in 2026, I expect the price of Bitcoin to rise. This is due, in particular, to the fundamental value of the first cryptocurrency, as well as to the general state of the world economy.

[Spaceman1000$]

According to Glassnode, super-majority of Bitcoin investors are now holding a  $1.2T in unrealized profits.

Following a recovery to $107k, a super-majority of Bitcoin investors are now holding unrealized profits. In total, the unrealized profit held across investors sits at a staggering $1.2T.

https://insights.glassnode.com/the-week-onchain-week-26-2025/

But the thing is, this super majority is not going to sell anytime. It might include the majority of us here who are just keep HODLing Bitcoin and perhaps the only time that we might want to sell is in the last quarter of the year when the price hits around $150k or higher.

So I guess this numbers is a good sign for everyone that there are a lot of HODLers and gone are the days that their is panic around when there is a negative news or FUD.

Those of them that sold their Bitcoin in the early years gave a strong signal to a lot of new adoptors afterwards, Holding now is the new oil block, majority of the HODLer including some of us here are highly interested in holding, because as the years goes by, the value of Bitcoin asset has continue to grow, so I'm not even surprised about the fact that majority of the HODLers are now holding $1.2T in unrealized profits, with few years coming the numbers will increase.

[coolcoinz]

This is Wall Street terminology because if you build a house and it's the only house you have, its value will eventually grow over time. This means that basically every homeowner holds unrealized profit, but does it matter? Of course not. There are things that you use and need, things that you will not sell.

I've held unrealized profit since 2016 because once my BTC went over $3k it remained above it for almost a decade. This really doesn't change anything for me and I doubt that it changes anything for people who bought bitcoin before the ETF got approved. We're not going below these levels.

[BitGoba]

But the thing is, this super majority is not going to sell anytime. It might include the majority of us here who are just keep HODLing Bitcoin and perhaps the only time that we might want to sell is in the last quarter of the year when the price hits around $150k or higher.

No one knows where the top will be by the end of the year, or how deep the correction might go. Bitcoin could hit $300,000 and drop back to $150,000, or it could peak at $200,000 and fall to $100,000. Timing the market is extremely difficult, which is why it's much wiser not to try trading Bitcoin  because you'll almost certainly end up without your BTC, sitting in dollars or other inflationary fiat currencies.

And being stuck in fiat  whose purchasing power melts like an ice cube under the spring sun  isn't exactly smart. It's too risky, especially considering how easily fiat systems can slip into hyperinflation, which is more like an ice cube melting at 30°C fast and irreversible.

[joniboini]

So I guess this numbers is a good sign for everyone that there are a lot of HODLers and gone are the days that their is panic around when there is a negative news or FUD.

Isn't it possible that the majority of those coins are in the hands of whales, though? Then again, AFAIK, the number of active addresses (or exchange accounts) is increasing every day, so we could argue that new people are entering the market too.

I don't think news like this will stop people from panicking when the bear market hits, especially if the price falls back to the region of $50k per Bitcoin or something. There will be ways for the media to manipulate the market and encourage people to sell more while the whales will absorb the impact, or vice versa.

[Yaunfitda]

If the price is at ATH or near ATH, then almost everyone is in profit. I don't get what is news about this?

I don't know how this is any serious news when we already know that when bitcoin reaches ATH, everyone will be in profits. Furthermore, I don't know from which entry point they are using as reference in this analysis because we know that people have different entry points so there should be a reference point from which we can estimate the volume of purchase made and then the profits from that purchase. If they are judging from inception of bitcoin, then it because useless statistics since the market capitalization already contains all the information and a simple multiplication of the total minted bitcoin and the price already give us the equivalent information.

It's more on the data that glassnode has been taking for many years now. So that they can put a twist or spin on it. Now we have heard the term "super-majority", for sure for Bitcoin holders, we don't want to complicate things and call it that way. We could be just holders, from whales to average joe like the most of us here. And it will not even take to be a rocket scientist to understand what is going on right now. We are not going to sell until we see that big prices in the future and that paper profits will turn to realized profits once we sell at all time high. Maybe it will be in the last quarter of the year as usually this is where we peak and reaches the top price for this bull cycle.

[X-ray]

If the price is at ATH or near ATH, then almost everyone is in profit. I don't get what is news about this?

I don't know how this is any serious news when we already know that when bitcoin reaches ATH, everyone will be in profits. Furthermore, I don't know from which entry point they are using as reference in this analysis because we know that people have different entry points so there should be a reference point from which we can estimate the volume of purchase made and then the profits from that purchase. If they are judging from inception of bitcoin, then it because useless statistics since the market capitalization already contains all the information and a simple multiplication of the total minted bitcoin and the price already give us the equivalent information.

I guess they are just trying to outline the fact that there's hardly any massive sell pressure and the fact that there are many holders out there not in hurry to realize their profit which is a good thing.

Regardless, yes it's not a big news or something like that .

[headingnorth]

The vast majority of Bitcoin holders are in profit, while the vast majority of altcoin/shitcoin
buyers are in losses, or have sold at a loss. That may explain why the top altcoins are still far
below their all time highs from the previous cycles. People don't hold altcoins for long, they trade them
for short term gains, or more commonly at a loss.

Altcoins and memecoins are little more than get rich quick schemes and are modern-day snake oil IMO.
The only ones getting rich from them are the VCs and paid influencers constantly dumping on retail.
You know what they say a sucker is born every minute.

[wileecryptoty]

"there's still a chance it could become legal tender again in the future"

Personally, I won't ever use my coin for day to day stuff until I'm getting paid in coin.

[logfiles]

Little question I usually have related to bitcoin having an unrealized profit, is it truly an unrealized profit when treated as a currency or when 1 bitcoin = 1 bitcoin, in this regard been a currency I don’t think there any unrealized profit. But I get it bitcoin has been heavily used more as an asset for investment rather than been a currency. So as an asset except converted to fiat many of bitcoin will be unrealized profits then except those yet to be mined.

The dynamics have changed over the years. Remember a time before the emergence of stablecoins, where almost every other coin pair in an exchange was pegged against Bitcoin like ETH/BTC, XRP/BTC, LTC/BTC. One would have to calculate the prices of coins in sats 

That was the sweet period where there was no much obsession with comparing the bitcoin price to the USD. I think it also encouraged more HODLing than where are today