Bitcoin long-term holders sit on 4M BTC bought above $85K, Glassnode warns of breakeven selling

28 Oct 2026

28 Oct 2026, 18:42 UTC+01:00

Bitcoin TradeReviewed News Desk

Bitcoin long-term holders are carrying a heavy block of coins bought above today’s price, and that supply could cap any recovery near $85,000. That is the main warning in Glassnode’s latest weekly onchain report, Quiet Under $85K, published on Wednesday.

4 million BTC bought between $85K and $118K

Glassnode uses its Cost Basis Distribution, which groups coins by the price at which they last moved. Long-term holders, defined as wallets holding coins for more than 155 days, own about 4 million BTC bought between $85,000 and $118,000, mostly during 2025. With Bitcoin trading around $81,000 on Wednesday, more than half of all long-term holder coins were bought above the current price.

“If price recovers toward $85K, many of these holders may sell to get their money back,” the analysts wrote. The $84,000 to $85,000 band has already turned Bitcoin back four times this year. According to Crypto Briefing, which covered the report, Glassnode says a series of daily closes above $85,000 would be needed to flip the zone into support, and a break above $87,500 with stronger ETF inflows would suggest buyers are absorbing the overhead supply.

Where support sits

Short-term holders look different. Most of their coins were bought below today’s price, with the densest cluster near $77,000 and a second one around $64,000 from the 2026 lows. On the Binance order book, the largest block of bids has moved down to $78,000 to $79,000, about $42 million, up from roughly $24 million in mid-October.

Bitcoin has also slipped just under the US spot ETF cost basis, the average price the funds paid, at $81,500. Below that, Glassnode puts the True Market Mean at $77,900 and the short-term holder cost basis at $75,800. ETF demand has weakened, with most of the recent inflow gone again and trading volume low.

Smaller losses on each dip

There is a constructive signal too. Holders have realized smaller losses on each dip since August. At the August low, realized losses outweighed profits by about $630 million in a single day. Around the October 24 sweep, the largest daily net loss was about $27 million, which Glassnode reads as fewer holders willing to sell at a loss.

What it means for traders

The report sketches a range: overhead supply from underwater long-term holders around $85,000, and buyer interest from $77,000 to $79,000. A daily close back above $81,500 would put the average ETF holder back in profit, while larger realized losses on the next dip would show sellers returning. With the Fed decision this week, volatility could break the range in either direction. For more context, see our coverage of who sold Bitcoin ETFs, according to Galaxy.

If you trade these levels, fees and funding matter. Our exchange comparison ranks BingX first and OKX second, and you can read how we test exchanges.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Sources: Glassnode, Crypto Briefing, Walter Bloomberg.

Follow TradeReviewed on X and our Telegram channel: you hear crypto and trading news here first.

Related reviews

• Bingx review
• Okx review

Sources

• Glassnode: Quiet Under $85K (The Week Onchain, Week 43 2026)
• Crypto Briefing: Bitcoin must reclaim $85K to overcome long-term holder selling, Glassnode says
• Walter Bloomberg: Bitcoin faces selling pressure as long-term holders sit on losses

News is for information only and is not financial advice. More crypto news