Dormant Bitcoin activity declined sharply in the second quarter, falling to its lowest level since Q3 2022, according to Galaxy Digital's head of firmwide research Alex Thorn. The metric, which tracks coins that haven't moved for years before suddenly becoming active, is closely watched as a proxy for profit-taking by long-term holders.
Historically, reawakening of old coins has coincided with major selling waves during bull runs. Thorn compared the current pattern to the 2017 rally, noting that the two-year period of 2024–2025 saw as much dormant Bitcoin move onchain as the entire 2017 cycle. The distribution peaked in late 2025, with roughly 900,000 BTC in the one-to-two-year age band moved in a single month.
That flow has now largely dried up. Q2 dormant coin awakening volume was not only the lowest since Q3 2022 but also on pace to be less than half of last year's total. The "coin days destroyed" metric—which weights spending by how long coins sat idle—also dropped, reinforcing the narrative that veteran holders have finished selling.
Thorn pushed back against theories that whales are exiting due to quantum computing fears. Galaxy works with a large institutional client base, and not one cited quantum risk as a reason to close a position. Instead, the slowdown reflects a "great distribution" that has now run its course, removing a key source of local selling pressure.
Bitcoin was trading around $64,808 at press time, well off its October 2025 all‑time high above $126,000. The decline from that peak was accompanied by visible whale selling earlier this year, but on‑chain data now suggests the heaviest distribution phase is behind us.
