BTC hit $71,375 on March 26, returning close to its all-time high of $73,738 earlier this month, but it failed to break through to a new peak.

This was largely due to profit-taking, which has accelerated, according to on-chain analytics provider Glassnode.

“Several on-chain indicators have flagged an uptick in profit-taking events,” the firm noted in its weekly update. With more than $2.6 billion in realized profit taken, the market has reached resistance, it added.

As the #Bitcoin market hits resistance at a new ATH of $73k, the Long-Term Holder cohort have ramped up their overall distribution pressure.

The market is currently seeing over $2.6B/day in realized profit, as investors start to take chips off the table.

Discover more in the… pic.twitter.com/YHXRnbUnFR

Profit-Taking Typical Behavior

On March 26, Glassnode observed that Bitcoin’s 16% correction was almost identical to the pre-halving pullback in the previous cycle.

It added that the majority of the 2 million BTC that switched from a status of being in-profit to being in-loss during the retrace now have a cost basis above $61.2K and have recently changed hands.

As the market reached its peak level, more than $2.6 billion in realized profit was locked in via on-chain spending, Glassnode reported.

Moreover, around 40% of this profit-taking was attributed to long-term holders, “which includes investors divesting from the GBTC Trust.”

Grayscales GBTC has shed 277,393 BTC since it was converted to a spot ETF in mid-January, with another $212 million in outflows measured on March 26. However, the newly launched nine ETFs have swallowed up that outflow and more.

The remaining $1.56 billion in realized profit was locked in by short-term holders, it added. Traders were taking advantage of the inflowing liquidity and market momentum, mirroring previous cycle peaks.

Realized profit by both cohorts has reached a similar magnitude to during the 2021 bull market peak.

Glassnode concluded that profit-taking was “not atypical market behavior” and aligns very closely with market patterns observed during all prior cycle all-time high breakouts.

Elsewhere on Crypto Markets

BTC was trading flat on the day at around $70,000 at the time of writing as markets took a breather. At current levels, it is just 4.6% down from its March 14 peak price.

Total capitalization was $2.79 trillion, just 9.4% away from its peak of $3.08 trillion in November 2021.

Most of the altcoins were also flat during the Wednesday morning Asian trading session. However, BNB, XRP, AVAX, and TON were retreating slightly as DOGE, SHIB, and ICP saw marginal gains.