BTC Whales Sit on $9B Unrealized Gains, Sparking Sell-Side Risk

New Bitcoin whales are sparking sell-side risk as their unrealized gains hit records. According to data from CryptoQuant, short-term holder (STH) whales currently sit on unrealized profits worth over $9 billion.

This is the largest figure recorded since CryptoQuant began tracking whale profitability in 2016. The reading concerns STH wallets holding coins that are less than six months old, with their aggregate unrealized profit hitting a new multi-year high of $9.07 billion on September 4th.

The cost basis of STH whales currently sits near $69,000, making them sensitive to small movements in the spot price. The data shows that further BTC price downside may induce selling from STH whales, who are traditionally seen as being speculative in nature and more sensitive to smaller market shifts.

CryptoQuant commented on the trend, stating 'Unrealized profit at that scale is exposure. A cohort sitting on a record paper gain can turn into sellers the moment price wobbles, and STH whales are historically the fastest to take profit when it's available.'