A dramatic exodus of Bitcoin millionaires is underway as the cryptocurrency's prolonged slump deepens. The number of high-net-worth BTC holders has plunged, with long-term investors now underwater as prices languish far below the $126,000 all-time high, signaling severe wealth erosion in the digital asset space.
A Finbold research has revealed a 14% decline in the number of Bitcoin wallets holding at least $1 million in the first quarter of this year. This notably came as the Bitcoin price crashed from a yearly high above $97,000 to as low as $60,000 on February 6, pushing many wallets below the $1 million threshold.
The research noted that the total number of Bitcoin addresses holding at least $1 million fell from 148,084 to 127,494 between January 1 and March 31, 2026. This represents a loss of almost 14% in the first quarter of this year. The report noted that this significant crash in the number of Bitcoin millionaires is likely due to the BTC crash in the first quarter rather than widespread selling activity.
It is worth noting that the number of BTC millionaires has continued to decline since the end of the first quarter, with the figure currently standing at 119,878, according to BitInfoCharts. This comes despite Bitcoin’s recovery since its February 6 low, suggesting that some of these wallets have offloaded holdings as the price has recovered.
However, it is worth noting that the number of BTC addresses holding $10 million or more has rebounded from the lows at the end of the first quarter. The Finbold research revealed that there were 14,261 addresses in this category at the end of the first quarter. At the time of writing, the number of addresses stands at 15,036, according to BitInfoCharts.
In an X post, on-chain analytics platform Glassnode revealed that the 30-day SMA of the LTH Relative Unrealized Loss currently sits at 14% of Bitcoin’s market cap. They noted that this figure remains substantially below the levels at which BTC formed bottoms in previous bear markets, with the average at around 70% of market cap.
This metric captures the total unrealized loss held by LTHs normalized by market cap, reflecting the huge losses that Bitcoin’s most convicted holders are sitting on. Based on historical cycles, the current figure suggests that BTC isn’t yet close to a bottom despite its recent recovery. Glassnode warned that there is still weak spot demand despite the recent recovery, with the softer futures activity suggesting that the recovery still lacks strong conviction.
Related Reading: Higher Before Lower: How Bitcoin Price Will Get To $240,000
At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $72,800, up in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
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