Bitcoin's widely tracked Coinbase Premium turns negative as realized losses spike to $6 billion

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin's widely tracked Coinbase Premium turns negative as realized losses spike to $6 billion A metric tracking U.S. spot demand has flipped red just as onchain data shows realized losses surging to $5.97 billion. By Shaurya Malwa | Edited by Sheldon Reback Apr 29, 2026, 4:13 p.m. Make preferred on U.S. investors are exiting bitcoin faster than their foreign counterparts. (CoinDesk) What to know : A key gauge of U.S. demand for bitcoin, the Coinbase Premium, turned negative this week for the first time since early April, signaling weaker buying interest in the world's largest economy. Onchain data show bitcoin holders realized about $5.97 billion in losses on April 24 as the price neared $78,000, indicating that investors who bought at even higher prices used the rebound to exit rather than reenter. Bitcoin has slipped to under $76,000, and analysts are watching whether realized losses decline, a sign that the overhang from underwater supply may be easing. The U.S. bid that drove April's rally is fading. Bitcoin's BTC $ 76,069.48 Coinbase Premium, the difference between the price on Coinbase (COIN) — which caters mainly to U.S. customers — and on offshore exchanges, flipped negative this week for the first time since early April, CryptoQuant data show. The metric ran consistently positive from April 8 through April 22, the same window that took bitcoin from $66,000 to a local high near $78,000. The premium peaked around April 22 and has rolled over since. Coinbase is widely used as a proxy for U.S. institutional and dollar-denominated flows, so a persistent negative reading means American investors are consistently paying less than the rest of the world. They're either selling more aggressively or simply not showing up. Onchain data tells the same story from the other side. Bitcoin Realized Loss 7-day Sum, which tracks the total dollar value of coins moved at a loss across the network, spiked to $5.97 billion on April 24 as bitcoin traded near $78,000. Realized Loss is recognized only when holders sell coins below the price at which they originally bought them. A print near $6 billion at $78,000 means the sellers were buyers at higher prices. CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr. said in a report the cohort likely entered between $80,000 and $95,000 during late 2025 and early 2026, using the April bounce as an exit rather than a reentry point. The two datasets are indicative of U.S. institutional buyers slowing their bid through Coinbase right as the holders increased selling activity. Bitcoin was recently trading around $76,000. What traders watch from here is whether the Realized Loss metric continues to fall as the underwater supply works through. The reading has already declined from its April 24 peak to $4.7 billion by April 28, suggesting the seller cohort is thinning. Bitcoin News Markets More For You The AI-crypto disconnect: Why Pantera’s CEO thinks institutions are missing the boat on bitcoin By Helene Braun , AI Boost | Edited by Jamie Crawley 49 minutes ago Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead says the "biggest divergence in history" has left AI stocks fully priced while bitcoin remains massively undervalued at 43% below its historical trend. What to know : Dan Morehead, founder and CEO of Pantera Capital, said cryptocurrency markets are “incredibly cheap” compared with what he views as overheated artificial intelligence stocks. Citing Pantera’s internal data, he said leading AI companies trade about 33 percent above their four-year log trend, while bitcoin is roughly 43 percent below its... Read full story Latest Crypto News The Protocol: Mythos forces crypto industry to rethink security practices 17 minutes ago Hyperliquid is preparing to take on Polymarket with a new way to trade real-world events 25 minutes ago The AI-crypto disconnect: Why Pantera’s CEO thinks institutions are missing the boat on bitcoin 49 minutes ago Visa expands stablecoin settlement network as volume hits $7 billion run rate 1 hour ago Bitcoin ETFs fuel institutional surge, 21Shares' CIO sees $100K possible by year-end 1 hour ago Crypto Long & Short: Guide, deliver, repeat: the hidden driver of token performance 1 hour ago Top Stories Wall Street is launching the first ever prediction market ETFs for U.S. elections 1 hour ago There's a social media groundswell predicting bitcoin above $90,000. That might be a problem. 7 hours ago Bitcoin rebounds from key support as traders eye renewed push toward $80,000 5 hours ago Institutional money is coming for bitcoin, but Adam Back says it moves slower than you think 12 hours ago First central bank to test bitcoin says asset is ‘too risky’ for reserves 4 hours ago Tether leads Belo's $14 million raise to expand stablecoin payments across Latin America 5 hours ago In this article BTC BTC $ 76,028.81 ◢ 0.13 %