Bitcoin Profit Taking Explodes: 12x More Gains Than Losses Hitting Exchanges

On-chain data shows the ratio between the Bitcoin profit and loss being sent to exchanges is approaching euphoric bull market levels.

Bitcoin Exchange Realized Profit/Loss Ratio Has Shot Up Recently

In its latest weekly report, the on-chain analytics firm Glassnode has talked about the Bitcoin transaction activity related to the centralized exchanges. While other modes of trading exist for BTC like over-the-counter (OTC) desks, the exchanges still act as the primary means of trade and speculation in the market.

Given this, the volume related to these platforms can be looked at as a measure of the demand for participating in trading activity that exists among the investors. As the analytics firm explains,

The volume of deposits and withdrawals to exchanges can be compared to the total volume settled on-chain, providing a tool for assessing the appetite of investors to trade Bitcoin.

Below is a chart that shows the trend in this volume dominance of the exchange deposits and withdrawals relative to the rest of the network.

As is visible in the above graph, the Bitcoin volume dominance of the exchanges has been witnessing an increase recently as the cryptocurrency has gone through its rally to a new all-time high, suggesting the demand for trading activity has been rising among the investors.

At the moment, the exchange volume is making up for 33% of all transactions occurring on the BTC network. This level is higher than the peak from early 2025, but lower than the surge from Q1 2024.

Clearly, investors are participating in a lot of trading currently, but what’s the nature of this activity? For the deposit side of things specifically, holder behavior can be broken down by separating between profit and loss transactions.

Glassnode has done this by referring to on-chain data to check what price the coins involved in these transactions were moved at prior to this. The difference between this price and the exchange deposit price tells us about the amount of profit/loss realized with the move.

Here is a chart that shows the data related to the average amount of profit/loss involved with exchange deposits on the Bitcoin network:

From the chart, it’s apparent that spending behavior among Bitcoin investors has largely been profit-driven recently, with the profitable transactions involving an average realized gain of $9,300, far outweighing the $780 dollar in loss that the average loss coin is realizing in its deposits to exchanges.

“This places the average profit at 12x larger than losses, which is pushing the ratio between the two near the extremes often seen in the most energetic stages of prior bull markets,” notes the analytics firm.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $105,800, down almost 5% in the last seven days.