Explaining the Short and Long Term Holders Threshold

In addition to the traditional 155-day threshold, we provide several other period alternatives.

Usually, the threshold between Short Term Holders (STH) and Long Term Holders (LTH) is defined as 155 days (approximately 5 months). This is based on a 2020 study by Glassnode, which found that after 155 days, the likelihood of someone selling their bitcoins drops significantly.

However, I always found this threshold quite arbitrary. So here at Bitcoin Is Data, I decided to include various different thresholds.

We classify as STH all the coins which moved within less than:

• 1 month;

• 2 months;

• 3 months;

• 4 months;

• 5 months;

• 6 months;

• 1 year;

• 2 years;

• 4 years.

And we classify as LTH all the coins which were last traded for more time than the same thresholds above.

That's why the buttons show, for example, "STH<5m." This is the classic 5-month STH that you will find on other on-chain data websites. In other words, all the coins that were moved within less than five months. But if you want, you can change the threshold that defines what is STH/LTH to another period.

Similarly, "LTH>1y," for example, includes all the coins that have not been moved for more than a year.

We can see, for example, that right now, on average, all bitcoins purchased in the last 365 days are at break-even, considering their price in dollars (the actual bitcoin price is equal to the realized price of STH<1y):

In other words, the average price of all coins moved within less than a year is equal to the current price of bitcoin today. So, on average, all the coins that were bought in the last year are breaking even.

Finally, you also have the option to use the “total” button. In this case, you display the Total Realized Price, which is the average price at which coins were bought when they last moved for all the holders, regardless of the period of time that they have been holding them (currently USD 31,240.00).

And that’s all for today. Have a great one!