The percentage of long-term ETH holders has skyrocketed this year to surpass Bitcoin for the second time ever. According to data from on-chain analytics platform IntoTheBlock, Ethereum has done pretty well in its percentage of long-term holders this year, with over 70% of investors currently holding on to their assets for more than a year, a new milestone for the blockchain.
ETH Long-Term Holders Now Top BTC
Ethereum’s price activity has largely underperformed this year when compared to Bitcoin. But this isn’t surprising, as Bitcoin has led the entire industry in bullish metrics and investor confidence this year. However, data from IntoTheBlock suggest more Ethereum investors are holding onto ETH for the long haul, hopefully with the belief that it will continue to rise substantially in value over time.
Long-term holders are investors who refuse to sell their crypto even during times of market volatility and price depreciation. They are particularly important in maintaining the overall health of any blockchain, as they help to provide stability and reduce price volatility.
History has shown Ethereum surpassing Bitcoin as regards this metric only once before. It’s important to note that the last time this happened, ETH would go on to lead in this metric over the subsequent months.
2023 Review! This year, the percent of long-term $ETH holders surpassed that of Bitcoin for the second time ever! pic.twitter.com/i6kDzAjzgM
— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) December 30, 2023
On the other hand, In/Out of the Money metric by IntoTheBlock shows Bitcoin leading Ethereum in terms of profitability. At the time of writing, 82.25% of all BTC addresses are making money at the current price, compared to 76.10% of ETH addresses.
Bitcoin’s high profitability can be linked to a huge number of early Bitcoins assumed to be lost forever. As a result, the percentage of holders who bought at the current price metric puts Ethereum ahead of Bitcoin.
Total crypto market cap is currently at $1.6 trillion. Chart: TradingView.com
Around 63% of ETH addresses who bought around the current price of $1,948 and $2,641 are still in profit compared to BTC’s 52% of addresses that bought between $35,729 and $48,402.
What’s Next For Ethereum?
Ethereum is currently trading at $2,285 and is up by 91% this year. However, the asset’s price has largely underperformed in comparison to major altcoins like Solana and Cardano, who are currently up by 925% and 145% respectively this year.
Interestingly, this hasn’t stopped bullish predictions from coming in regarding Ethereum. One of these is a prediction from BitMex founder Arthur Hayes, who estimated an astounding $5,000 price for Ethereum. Crypto analyst Raoul Pau also looked at price history to predict ETH outperforming BTC becoming a key macro trend of 2024. The first step in achieving this would be to break above the $2,380 price level.
For all the ETH bears… in Feb 2021, BTC first hit $44,000 (where it is today) and ETH was at $1400 (now $2250), 9 months later ETH was up 245%, BTC was up 45%…
I think ETH outperforming BTC will be a key macro trend of 2024 and our work at EXPAAM suggests it. 1/ pic.twitter.com/QGSZahhldg
— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) December 21, 2023
Featured image from Pexels