The price of Bitcoin ($BTC) faced increased selling activity from short-term holders (STH) on March 6, following the conclusion of a six-week downward trend in early March 2026.
In the last day, STH transferred approximately 27,000 $BTC, which is roughly valued at $1.86 billion at the time of reporting, to cryptocurrency exchanges for profit. This data comes from CryptoQuant, a leading crypto analytics platform. Notably, this surge in profit-taking by STH marks the highest level since January 14, 2026, which led to a significant decline of about 36% in $BTC‘s price over the following weeks.
$BTC STH profits sent to exchanges within a day. Source: CryptoQuant
Reasons Behind Selling Pressure from Bitcoin’s Short-Term Holders
The selling activity among Bitcoin’s short-term holders has intensified due to an unstable macroeconomic environment exacerbated by ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Following a brief rally that pushed $BTC‘s price up to around $74,000 earlier this week, both its spot and Open Interest (OI) began declining by Friday.
For example, U.S.-based Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) linked to $ BTC experienced net cash outflows totaling approximately $228 million on March 5 as per market insights provided by SoSoValue. Concurrently , Bitcoin’s OI dropped from $49 .66 billion on March 5 down to about $45 .26 billion currently . Consequently , short – term holders are bracing for additional sell-offs amid dwindling liquidity inflows.
“Their average realized price hovers around $68 ,000 . Given current news trends and macroeconomic forecasts that appear quite bleak in the near term , such behavior seems understandable and even rational,” remarked an analyst from CryptoQuant.
The Future Outlook for $ BTC
Considering the rising selling pressure surrounding Bitcoin , it can be inferred that this week’s rally was merely a temporary rebound before further declines—often referred to as a dead-cat bounce . The prevailing bearish sentiment regarding $ BTC is reinforced by its recent death cross formation between its50-dayand200-daySimpleMovingAverages(SMA)onthe3-daychart accordingtotradingexpertAliMartinez.
“Bitcoin has recently formed another death cross; if historical patterns hold true—even partially—it could indicate we are entering into one final downturn phase for this cycle,” Martinez emphasized.
If however,$ BTC manages torecoverabove$94 ,000—potentially drivenbyashortsqueeze—a new macro bull run could be expected overthecomingweeksandmonths ahead.