The market sentiment was weak. Bitcoin and altcoins made small gains on Sunday and Monday, but the first hint of a retracement in the early hours of Sunday saw increased selling from short-term holders.
They were holding BTC at a loss and collectively sent 56k BTC to exchanges at a loss, showing panic-driven selling.
Between the 13th of October and the early hours of the 14th of October, Bitcoin [BTC] experienced a 5.05% price drop.
In the space of 14 hours, it fell from $115,868 to $110,012. Over the past 24 hours, BTC has made a slight move higher, measuring 2.03%, at press time.
However, even the dip on the 14th of October was enough to scare short-term holders into selling.
After the enormous liquidations on the 10th of October and the swiftness of the fall, market participants were bracing themselves for another price drop.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), crypto analyst Darkfost observed that the short-term holders were still in panic mode. The 5% price dip that ended in the early hours of Tuesday was enough to spook the short-term holders.
56k Bitcoin was sent to exchanges at a loss during the price dip. This was more than the amount sent to exchanges during the actual liquidation episode. It revealed trigger-happy sellers fearful of another price crash.
The analyst observed that, for the third time in just a few days, short-term holders (STHs) were moving their coins in a panic-driven manner. In the 20 hours leading up to the report, Bitcoin mostly traded within the $112,000 to $113,000 range.
A price drop below $111.8k could once again alarm this cohort, leading to heightened selling and greater volatility.
Crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr showed that short-term holders were realizing losses using the Bitcoin STH SOPR, as its value was below 1. The metric also pointed toward weakness in demand.
A drop below 0.975 would mean the STH SOPR was in a “high stress zone”, which had previously been reached in April 2025.
It is possible that spooked sellers could feed the cycle, driving prices lower and selling at a greater loss until exhausted, leading to a bottom formation.
