65% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply has not moved in the last 12 months

The notion that an active market is healthy isn’t always true. While the amount of activity we see on a given network can undoubtedly show how stable it is, a lack of activity can also indicate an incoming bullish trend.

Take, for example, the Bitcoin network.

Bitcoin’s price slump hasn’t affected the majority of its circulating supply. According to data from Glassnode, over 65% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply, or around 12.35 million BTC, hasn’t moved in at least a year. This is a significant increase from the supply that hasn’t been active in at least two years and an even more considerable increase from the supply that hasn’t been active in at least three years.

Data from Glassnode shows that 8.55 million BTC — 45% of the circulating supply — hasn’t moved in at least two years, while 7.22 million BTC — or 38% of the circulating supply — hasn’t moved in three years. 

Zooming out even further to the supply that hasn’t moved in five or more years, we see it trending towards all-time highs of 4.37 million BTC, or 23% of the supply.

This illustrates an interesting trend — investors are holding their coins through bull markets and crypto winters. Bitcoin’s ATH rally in November 2021 hasn’t decreased the percentage of Bitcoins held in over a year, and neither has the ongoing bear market. The data suggests that investors have a low-time preference view and are holding onto their coins through thick and thin.