Glassnode's latest data shows that the percentage of BTC, ETH, and SOL held at a loss is at a historical high.
However, a deeper examination of locked supply, institutional holdings, and staking structures reveals that the effective liquid supply under pressure is significantly lower than the surface percentage, especially for Ethereum and Solana.
Key points:
A large amount of Ethereum and Solana held at a loss lacks liquidity, with over 40% of Ethereum and over 75% of Solana locked in staking, ETFs, or strategic reserves.
The percentage of Bitcoin held at a loss appears high, but institutional holdings and permanently lost Bitcoin supply significantly reduce its true circulating supply.
Currently, 35% of Bitcoin supply is at a loss, a level last seen when Bitcoin's trading price was close to $27,000. Despite the absence of a staking mechanism, Bitcoin's liquid supply remains far below this figure. Key data is as follows:
Bitcoin circulating supply: 19,953,406
Held by public/private companies, ETFs, and nations: 3,725,013 Bitcoin
Permanently lost Bitcoin (estimated): 3,000,000–3,800,000 Bitcoin. This accounts for 15.0% to 19.0% of the total circulating supply.
Overall, these factors remove about 33% of Bitcoin from circulation. Institutional holdings, especially ETF vaults and corporate treasuries, are not sensitive to short-term fluctuations, as their operations follow missions related to reserves, long-term accumulation, or index tracking. Permanently lost Bitcoin further reduces the supply that can respond to loss pressure.
Ethereum's data requires a more detailed interpretation. While currently 37% of Ethereum is held at a loss, a significant portion of the supply in the network is locked or held by institutions:
Ethereum circulating supply: 120,695,601
Staked Ethereum: 35,681,209 Ethereum (≈29.6%)
Ethereum in spot ETFs: 6,260,000 Ethereum (≈5.18%)
Ethereum in strategic reserves (SER): 6,360,000 Ethereum (≈5.26%)
Overall, over 40% of ETH is actually locked in staking, ETFs, or long-term institutional reserves. These categories historically do not respond to short-term fluctuations, as institutional products (ETFs, custodial reserves) prioritize long-term accumulation over free selling. Therefore, the actual liquid ETH supply facing loss pressure is far less than the aforementioned 37%.
The differences for Solana are even more pronounced. Although 70% of circulating SOL is at a loss, the network has one of the highest staking ratios among major chains:
SOL circulating supply: 559,262,268
Staked SOL: 411,395,790.5 SOL (73.6%)
SOL in ETFs: approximately 1% of circulating supply
This means that over three-quarters of SOL is locked in validator staking or institutional products, showing no signs of rapid selling. Notably, when SOL dropped to $121, the amount held at a loss shrank to 80%, a level previously reached when the price was close to $20, indicating that this metric is more sensitive to rapid price revaluation rather than structural capitulation.
Interestingly, due to heavy re-staking locks, the loss supply metrics for ETH and SOL tend to sharply decline in an upward trend, making such peaks more reflective of price momentum rather than panic positioning.
Overall, for all three assets, the original loss percentage exaggerates the potential selling pressure. Once locked supply, institutional holdings, and permanently lost coins are taken into account, the truly at-risk liquid supply is significantly more limited.
Related: "Institutions Have Arrived" — US Bancorp Launches Stablecoin Pilot on Stellar Network
Original article: “High Percentage of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) Held at Loss: Is This a Bear Market Signal?”
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
