More Than 50% of Bitcoin Addresses Are Now in Loss

Previous bear markets ended with the majority of addresses being out of the money, on-chain data shows.

AccessTimeIconNov 21, 2022 at 11:57 a.m. UTC
Updated Nov 21, 2022 at 6:26 p.m. UTC
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Most addresses holding bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, are now in the red, the first time that's happened since the start of the coronavirus-induced crash of March 2020.

  • Just over 51%, or 24.6 million addresses of the total 47.9 million, are below purchase price on their investments, according to data provided by blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock. About 45% are in the money, which means they are boasting unrealized gains, while the rest are roughly at break-even
  • IntoTheBlock defines out-of-the-money addresses as those that acquired coins at an average price higher than bitcoin's going market rate of $16,067.
  • The bearish momentum looks overdone, according to Lucas Outumuro, head of research at IntoTheBlock.
  • Previous bear markets ended with the majority of addresses being out of-the money.
Previous bear markets ended with most addresses being out of the money. (Source: IntoTheBlock)
Previous bear markets ended with most addresses being out of the money. (Source: IntoTheBlock)
  • The percentage of out-of-the-money addresses stood at 55% in January 2019. Bitcoin bottomed near $3,200 around the same time and began a bull run three months later.
  • The percentage of addresses out of the money rose to 62% during the depths of the 2015 bear market.
  • Past data, however, is no guarantee of future results, and the fallout from the collapse of crypto exchange FTX may bring more pain to the market.

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Omkar Godbole

Omkar Godbole is a Co-Managing Editor on CoinDesk's Markets team.


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