Bitcoin traders on Binance aggressively purchased 6,870 BTC in a single day after the price surged above $91,400 this week. This buying activity occurred even as long-term holders (LTHs) took advantage of the price strength to sell their holdings.
The surge in buying interest from retail traders happened against a backdrop of sharp liquidations and declining trading volume, raising questions about the sustainability of this retail momentum.
Retail Investors Enter the Market as Long-Term Holders Distribute
Data compiled by on-chain analyst Amr Taha, shared shortly before a notable price decrease, illustrated a market potentially at a critical juncture. On November 23, the realized capitalization for short-term holders (STH) – representing the total cost basis for Bitcoin held for less than 155 days – surpassed $51 billion. This level is the highest recorded since December 2024 and signifies a substantial inflow of new, short-term oriented capital into the market. Taha indicated that such spikes have historically correlated with market peaks.
Concurrently, the realized capitalization for long-term holders (LTHs) saw a decrease of approximately $47 billion. The analyst interpreted this as experienced investors, who had acquired Bitcoin at lower prices, selling their assets to these new retail buyers. This pattern has been observed prior to significant market corrections, specifically in December 2024 and March 2024. Taha's observation was that "Whenever STH buy aggressively while LTH sell to them, price tends to cool off shortly after." The subsequent $5,000 drop in Bitcoin's price within a few hours appeared to validate this historical trend.
The intense retail buying activity was primarily focused on the Binance exchange. As the flagship cryptocurrency broke through the $91,400 mark, the daily retail buying volume on the platform reached a record high of 6,870 BTC, valued at approximately $628 million at that time.
Market Volatility Amidst Uncertainty in Price Direction
An examination of market activity reveals a period of considerable price volatility. In the preceding day, market commentators, including Wise Crypto and The Kobeissi Letter, highlighted that over $600 million in cryptocurrency long positions were liquidated. This included a substantial $14.48 million ETH/USDC position on Binance. Within single one-hour periods, approximately $200 million in liquidations were recorded.
Ash Crypto described a rapid $5,000 decline in Bitcoin's price over three hours, noting that more than $200 billion was wiped from the total cryptocurrency market value. This occurred without any clear macroeconomic or regulatory catalyst, leading to the characterization of the event as "pure manipulation dump to wipe out the leverage again."
Bitcoin is currently consolidating between significant price levels. The asset is positioned between a major support zone near $84,570, where a substantial volume of Bitcoin last changed hands, and a considerable resistance barrier around $112,340.
Following a rejection from the $91,800 zone, Bitcoin has fallen to trade around $86,300. This represents a 5% decrease over the past 24 hours and signifies a test of the lower boundaries of its recent trading range.