The on-chain analytics agency Glassnode has revealed how a well-liked fable surrounding the decline of the Bitcoin trade provide isn’t actual.
Accessible Bitcoin Provide Hasn’t Truly Dropped A lot
In its newest weekly report, Glassnode has mentioned a few false impression that’s broadly held within the Bitcoin neighborhood across the decline within the Stability on Exchanges throughout this cycle.
The “Stability on Exchanges” right here refers to an on-chain indicator that, as its identify suggests, measures the whole quantity of the cryptocurrency that’s sitting within the wallets of all centralized exchanges.
Usually, one of many predominant the explanation why buyers deposit to the exchanges is for selling-related functions, so the Stability on Exchanges is commonly checked out because the accessible promote provide of the asset. Will increase within the metric, subsequently, are thought-about bearish for BTC’s value, as they recommend extra holders are keen to half with their tokens. Equally, declines will be assumed to be bullish.
Now, right here is the chart for the Bitcoin Stability on Exchanges shared by the analytics agency within the report:
The worth of the metric seems to have seen a plunge in current months | Supply: Glassnode’s The Week Onchain – Week 4, 2025
As displayed within the above graph, the Bitcoin Stability on Exchanges was sitting at 3.1 million BTC in July 2024, however at the moment, it has declined to simply 2.74 million BTC. It is a important lower and has made many consider that this represents the creation of a ‘provide shock‘ for the asset.
Glassnode thinks in any other case, nonetheless, because the analytics agency has defined:
Whereas many interpret this as a type of provide shock brought on by a mass of cash being withdrawn by particular person buyers—probably creating upward value strain—we consider nearly all of this decline stems from cash reshuffling into ETF wallets managed by custodians like Coinbase.
The spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are funding automobiles that have been launched within the US initially of final yr. They provide an alternate technique of gaining publicity to the asset, in a mode that’s acquainted to conventional buyers. This mode of BTC investing has rapidly gained recognition and at the moment, the spot ETFs management a notable quantity of the availability.
“After the SEC permitted Bitcoin Spot ETFs in January 2024, eight of 11 spot ETFs chosen Coinbase as their custodian,” notes Glassnode. “As demand for ETF merchandise picked up, a big migration of cash from trade wallets into Coinbase’s institutional custodian wallets occurred.”
Beneath is the chart shared by the analytics agency that exhibits the development within the holdings of those spot ETFs.
Appears to be like just like the ETFs mixed maintain 1.69 million BTC for the time being | Supply: Glassnode’s The Week Onchain – Week 4, 2025
An fascinating image seems if the Bitcoin holdings of the spot ETFs are included with these of the exchanges.
How the mixed steadiness on exchanges and ETFs has modified over the previous few years | Supply: Glassnode’s The Week Onchain – Week 4, 2025
From the graph, it’s obvious that this mixed indicator is sitting at a price of three.04 million BTC proper now. That is about the identical stage as the place the market was at the beginning of 2024, proper earlier than the spot ETFs have been launched.
Primarily based on this, the analytics agency has concluded that the obvious decline within the Bitcoin Stability on Exchanges is extra prone to signify a shift in market construction, relatively than a lower within the accessible promote provide.
BTC Value
Bitcoin has made restoration of about 3% up to now day, which has taken its value past $105,000.
The worth of the coin appears to have retraced its current plunge | Supply: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured picture from Dall-E, Glassnode.com, chart from TradingView.com