Bitcoin Hits Profit-Taking Wall: $11B Dumped by Short-Term Holders as Rally Falters Below $110K

Bitcoin’s moonshot hits turbulence—traders just cashed out a staggering $11 billion in gains before the $110K breakout. Here’s why the market’s grinding gears.

Paper hands strike again

Short-term holders—the crypto equivalent of day traders hopped on Reddit buzz—just flipped their stacks. That $11B profit-taking spree slammed the brakes on what looked like an inevitable march toward six figures.

Institutional FOMO meets retail exit strategy

While Wall Street’s still drooling over ETF inflows, the little guys are booking vacations. Classic case of ’buy the rumor, sell the news’—except the rumor was Bitcoin at $150K and the news is... well, another round of volatility bingo.

What’s next?

The $110K resistance isn’t just a number—it’s a psychological battleground. Every trader and their dog knows breaking it would trigger algorithmic buying frenzies. But for now? The market’s stuck in that special purgatory where diamond hands meme through the pain and hedge funds quietly reposition.

Funny how ’decentralized’ markets still dance to the same old tune: greed, fear, and the occasional well-timed rug pull by whales in Lambos.

Short-term holder profit-taking intensifies

While the crypto market retraced some of the losses in the weekend tumble, BTC has likely entered a choppy phase as traders digest the rapid, almost 50% run from the April lows, Bitfinex analysts said in a Monday report.

Increased profit-taking by short-term holders could also cap bitcoin’s near-term upside: this investor cohort realized $11.4 billion in cumulative profits over the past 30 days, compared to $1.2 billion in the previous 30-day period, the report noted.

"At these levels, the risk emerges that profit-taking outpaces new demand inflows," Bitfinex analysts wrote. "Unless thereʼs a corresponding rise in new capital entering the market to absorb this supply, prices may begin to stall or even retrace.

"The next few days will be key to gauge whether the dip to $106,000 has set the range lows or a bigger reset is in the cards, the report said. If a deeper pullback materializes, the key level to watch is the short-term holder cost basis around $95,000, the average price this group bought the asset, the authors noted.

Strong inflows to U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs — totaling $5.3 billion in May so far —, low volatility and lack of froth suggest that bitcoin will likely resume its uptrend into the third quarter of the year after a pause, the analysts argued.