Even if Bitcoin hits levels not seen in months, HODLing will never go out of style.
More than half of existing coins haven’t moved in more than two years, according to recent figures, a new all-time high.
Blockchain data firm Glassnode said Decrypt that the amount of Bitcoin that was last moved more than two years ago currently stands at 53.14%.
This means that 10.2 million Bitcoins are immobile, or approximately $309 billion in satoshis. A total of 19.3 million Bitcoins have been mined since the cryptocurrency was created.
Arkham Intelligence CEO Miguel Morel said Decrypt that dormant coins often find their way back into circulation over time.
“Coins shifted organically from those with a time and liquidity preference to those with a time and liquidity preference,” Morel said. “Through all upheaval, for every seller there is a buyer.”
Former Bitcoin caches have been known to movewith “whales” – those who have accumulated huge amounts of cryptocurrency, making absurd returns – transferring their investment to other addresses.
Still, Glassnode previously stated that investors are less likely to spend coins after 155 days. And the data has previously show that those who actually make money buying the oldest cryptocurrency are “sophisticated investors” who sit on large amounts for a long time, while the retail investor is likely to lose.
“Sometimes these coins never come back to market,” Morel added.
Bitcoin that sits still for a long time can also be attributed to lost coins: a common problem for hobby investors is forgetting the private keys to their digital wallet.
The latest data points come as the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization skyrockets in value: Bitcoin last night to hit the $30,000 mark for the first time in 10 months; now it is trading for $30,229, according at CoinGecko.
At the start of the year, the asset’s price was well below $20,000 – trading hands for as little as $16,615.
Investors are clearly hoping their investment will swell the longer they sit on it.