Key Takeaways
Why is crypto struggling to recover from the recent losses?
The market sentiment was weak. Bitcoin and altcoins made small gains on Sunday and Monday, but the first hint of a retracement in the early hours of Sunday saw increased selling from short-term holders.
Are short-term holders selling or accumulating now?
They were holding BTC at a loss and collectively sent 56k BTC to exchanges at a loss, showing panic-driven selling.
Between the 13th of October and the early hours of the 14th of October, Bitcoin [BTC] experienced a 5.05% price drop.
In the space of 14 hours, it fell from $115,868 to $110,012. Over the past 24 hours, BTC has made a slight move higher, measuring 2.03%, at press time.
However, even the dip on the 14th of October was enough to scare short-term holders into selling.
After the enormous liquidations on the 10th of October and the swiftness of the fall, market participants were bracing themselves for another price drop.
Selling and bearish sentiment prevail in crypto land
Source: Darkfost on X
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), crypto analyst Darkfost observed that the short-term holders were still in panic mode. The 5% price dip that ended in the early hours of Tuesday was enough to spook the short-term holders.
56k Bitcoin was sent to exchanges at a loss during the price dip. This was more than the amount sent to exchanges during the actual liquidation episode. It revealed trigger-happy sellers fearful of another price crash.
The analyst observed that, for the third time in just a few days, short-term holders (STHs) were moving their coins in a panic-driven manner. In the 20 hours leading up to the report, Bitcoin mostly traded within the $112,000 to $113,000 range.
A price drop below $111.8k could once again alarm this cohort, leading to heightened selling and greater volatility.
Source: Axel Adler Jr on X
Crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr showed that short-term holders were realizing losses using the Bitcoin STH SOPR, as its value was below 1. The metric also pointed toward weakness in demand.
A drop below 0.975 would mean the STH SOPR was in a “high stress zone”, which had previously been reached in April 2025.
It is possible that spooked sellers could feed the cycle, driving prices lower and selling at a greater loss until exhausted, leading to a bottom formation.
