Bitcoin has once again approached the psychologically important threshold of $80,000 after very rapid growth, but its definitive breakthrough has not yet occurred. On-chain data suggests that the market is facing an interesting paradox: the more investors are in profit, the greater their willingness may be to realize part of their gains. Further growth may not depend solely on a technical breakout, but primarily on whether enough new buyers emerge.
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Older bitcoins are starting to move
After more than 25% weekly growth, bitcoin was trading near $79,500, but has so far failed to turn the area above $80,000 into stable support. At the same time, on-chain indicators began recording higher activity of coins that had been dormant for a longer period. The SOPR indicator climbed to 1.48 on August 22, signaling an increased amount of bitcoins being moved at a profit.
The movement of older coins itself does not yet mean that long-term investors have launched a massive sell-off. However, it does show that the high price is beginning to be attractive enough for some holders to lock in part of their profit. The situation is complicated by the fact that, according to aggregated data, practically all major investor groups are now in profit. The market may thus have enough willing sellers even without a significant deterioration in sentiment.
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New buyers will determine the next move
The most important question is therefore not just whether bitcoin will exceed $80,000 in the short term. More essential will be whether new demand can absorb the coins coming to market from investors realizing profits. One potential source of capital may be U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, into which funds are beginning to return according to available data.
Also noteworthy is the Coinbase Premium, which compares the price of bitcoin on Coinbase with the BTC/USDT market on Binance. The indicator significantly approached neutral value during August, but has remained negative for most of 2026, which still suggests weaker U.S. spot demand. If the Premium were to stabilize above zero while ETF inflows continued, bitcoin could gain the necessary new capital for further growth. Blockchain data-focused companies such as CryptoQuant will therefore be an important source of information in the coming weeks about whether price growth is actually driven by new demand or just capital movement between existing players.
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