As Bitcoin fell to its lowest price point in 2026 – hitting $62,114 in the early hours of Thursday – on-chain data showed that BTC traders and holders accepted their losses, giving signs of capitulation amidst the crypto market bloodbath.
Bitcoin holders finally capitulated?
Over the past week, the total crypto market cap has slid from $2.57 trillion to $2.32 trillion, representing a shed of $250 billion. What stands out is the majority of the trim came at BTC’s expense, evident from the following weekly Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D) chart.
According to the chart, BTC.D fell from 59.84 percent on Monday to 57.93 on Thursday. While it may seem trivial on the surface level, the fall in BTC dominance involved BTC’s market cap falling by $200 billion.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s Net Realized Profit and Loss (NRPL) chart shows the metric dropping to -1.9 billion. The NRPL falling in such deeply negative territory indicates that a significant chunk of investors have decided to realize losses on their positions.
Past on-chain data shows that similar investor behavior tends to precede phases of the so-called “shake-out” or capitulation periods. During this time, short-term investors choose to exit the market.
While BTC’s price action is likely to remain volatile in the short-term, such large-scale loss-cutting waves prove to be the prerequisite signals supporting the establishment of a local bottom.
BTC is crashing, but all is not lost
To say that the BTC crash was not anticipated would be disingenuous. On Tuesday, exchange data from Binance showed that short-term BTC holders are selling at the fastest pace since February 2026.
Similarly, on May 30, BTC inflows to Binance crypto exchange surged by more than 50 percent from their 2026 lows. Institutional enthusiasm toward the top cryptocurrency appears to be cooling down too, with Strategy selling BTC worth $2.5 million on Monday.
However, there are still some silver linings. On Thursday, Strive Enterprise cleared the air, saying that the firm has no intention to sell any BTC this year. On-chain data also shows that BTC may be getting ready for a 20 percent rally
