Bitcoin's movement from dormant wallets dropped sharply in Q2, reaching its lowest point since late 2022, according to Alex Thorn, Galaxy Digital's head of research.
Thorn detailed that the oldest Bitcoin holders, often referred to as OGs, have slowed their selling after a two-year period of heavy distribution. The activity in 2026 is set to be less than half of what was seen in 2025, marking a significant cooldown in long-term coin reactivation.
Bitcoin currently trades near $65,000, which is almost 48% below its peak of $126,000 in October 2025. This decline in dormant coin movements coincides with a reduction in whale sales, easing some selling pressure on the market.
Decline in Dormant Coin Activity Reflects Holders' Caution
Dormant coin activity measures how coins that have remained untouched for years suddenly move again. This trend often signals profit-taking by long-term holders. Thorn compared the recent slowdown to Bitcoin’s 2017 bull cycle, suggesting that most veteran holders who planned to sell during the 2024 and 2025 rallies have already done so.
Supporting this, the 'coin days destroyed' metric, which tracks the age-weighted spending of coins, also fell in the second quarter. Thorn called the past two years 'a great distribution,' noting that Bitcoin moved as much long-dormant supply during 2024 and 2025 as it did in the entire 2017 rally.
Galaxy's data stretching back to 2016 shows a repeating pattern: old coins tend to reawaken during major market rallies like those in 2017, 2021, and again across 2024-2025. Most movement involved coins aged between one and ten years, often leading to selling. By the end of 2025, nearly 900,000 BTC aged one to two years changed hands in a single month, but this activity has since cooled significantly this year.
