70% of All Bitcoin Hasn’t Moved in Over 1 Year

More than 70% of all bitcoin hasn’t moved in over a year. Here’s what that means and why it’s important.

The percent of bitcoin that hasn’t moved in more than a year continues to increase over time. It just passed 70%.

See the above chart.

Just like the price of bitcoin, the supply that sits dormant for 1+ year spikes up and down throughout each market cycle.

Much of the movement is dependent upon external or broader macro factors.

70% of the bitcoin supply not moving in over a year means that bitcoiners, like myself, are long term holders.

I checked my own bitcoin.

I have a cold storage (i.e. self-custody — LEARN WHAT THAT IS HERE) wallet that I created May 10, 2021. The bitcoin I moved to it on that very day is still in that wallet. I’ve sent more bitcoin to it since setting it up but a majority of the bitcoin on that cold storage wallet has been sitting there for between 2.5 and 1.5 years. And really… I’ve had some of that bitcoin for a decade now so it’s only technically moved because I started using a new wallet.

There’s some misconceptions around what it means that 70% of all bitcoin hasn’t moved in over a year. Critics say that means people aren’t using bitcoin BUT the exact opposite is true.

In the same way that the average person builds up their savings and investment assets, bitcoiners build up their long term bitcoin holdings.

I still use bitcoin.

I spend it and give some away to friends and newcomers.

I buy bitcoin every single week.

But, I have also been concentrating a large percentage of my total bitcoin holdings into that “long term savings” type of bucket.

That bucket contributes to the 70%.

70% of bitcoin hasn’t changed hands in over a year, yes, but the hands that the bitcoin has been in have stronger conviction than ever before.