Bitcoin miners are hodling while long-term investors take profits

On-chain analytics provider, Glassnode, has published data revealing that Bitcoin miners are accumulating while long-term investors are taking profits.

Despite January seeing heavy selling from miners, Glassnode’s report shows that miner outflows have dried up during February so far.

The report asserts that miners and longer-term investors are the two principal sellers of Bitcoin during bull markets. According to Glassnode, declining miner outflows can be inferred as bullish, with miners either having already covered their costs of operation or stockpiling coins in response to Tesla’s $1.5 billion Bitcoin investment:

“This suggests that miners have either completed adequate sales to cover costs, or could also mean they see Tesla's vote of confidence as fair reason to keep a strong grip on their treasuries.”

With miners now hanging onto their BTC, Glassnode concludes the majority of coins being sold in the markets are being off-loaded by longer term investors.

The report notes last week’s ‘Elon Candle’ — with the single-largest daily candle in the history of BTC being posted the day after Tesla’s investment was announced, driving a 24-hour price gain of $7,162 or 18.5% on Monday, Feb. 8.

Looking at Bitcoin’s Average Spent Output Lifespan (ASOL), an indicator that measures the average age in days of all spent transaction outputs, Glassnode concluded that long-term investors capitalized on Tesla’s news to realize profits.

“The Elon Candle has lifted the average age of coins spent from 30-days to 58-days, as shown in the ASOL.”

The firm noted that Coin Days Destroyed (CDD), which is a measure of economic activity giving more weight to coins that haven't been spent for a long time, also shows that older coins are getting redistributed. Glassnode concludes that long-term investors have been taking profits since October — when BTC broke back above $12,000.

Tesla’s investment has also driven record social signals for Bitcoin, with Twitter activity surging to new highs after the vehicle manufacturer’s investment was publicized.

Despite the profit taking, Bitcoin's price continues to make gains, with BTC testing its recent all-time high of roughly $49,600 on Feb. 16.