More Bitcoin is sitting in the red than ever before, yet the people who hold it the longest have never owned more. That contradiction is the story of this latest drop to $59,100.
An unrealized loss means the coin is worth less than what its owner paid, but they have not sold yet. When 10.83 million coins are underwater, that is a record - a level that has been seen only at past bear-market bottoms.
Bitcoin's price fell to about $59,100 on June 25. That dip pushed the number of coins held at a loss to 10.83 million, according to on-chain data firm Glassnode, reported by CoinDesk.
That number beats the previous milestone of 9.8 million reached about four months ago. Earlier in June, before the latest drop, the supply in loss was already at 10.78 million.
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For context, during the bear-market bottoms of 2019, 2020, and 2022, the level of loss-making supply was around 10.5 million. So the current 10.83 million is slightly above those historical lows.
This metric tracks coins whose current market value is lower than the price at which they last traded, indicating owners are sitting on paper losses rather than realized ones.
Long-term holders - investors who have held Bitcoin for at least 155 days, according to Glassnode's classification - now own a record 14.8 million Bitcoin. That is about 75% of the total circulating supply of roughly 20 million coins.
Of that 14.8 million, 5.58 million coins are currently at an unrealized loss. That is the second-highest amount of loss-making Bitcoin held by long-term holders since March 2020, when that number reached 5.6 million.
In other words, 37% of all long-term holdings are underwater. Yet these investors are not selling. According to CoinDesk, this group typically continues buying and holding during bearish periods, raising their share of the total supply, while they often sell into rallies during overheated markets.
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Historically, such extreme levels of unrealized loss have often signaled the end of corrections and the beginning of new uptrends. For example, after the 2022 bear-market bottom when supply in loss was around 10.5 million, Bitcoin went on to rally more than 100% over the following year. The current reading of 10.83 million, combined with long-term holders refusing to sell, suggests strong conviction among the most committed investors. If past patterns hold, this could be a foundation for recovery once selling pressure from weaker hands subsides.
