Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Sellers Almost Broke Even for First Time in 12 Days — and Failed

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Fact-Checked by James Carter, Editor-in-Chief

🕑 5 min read

SOPR touched 0.999 on April 1 before crashing back to 0.988 – while leverage quietly dropped to its lowest level in four weeks.

Almost.

That one word captures Bitcoin’s early April 2026 price action better than any chart. After 12 straight days of realized losses, BTC sellers came within one-tenth of a percent of breaking even on April 1 – and then the window slammed shut. Bitcoin trades at $67,154 as of April 3, up a modest 0.78% in 24 hours but still sitting 46.7% below its $126,080 all-time high from October 2025.

The Spent Output Profit Ratio, a metric tracking whether coins are sold at a profit or loss, kissed 0.999 – then collapsed back to 0.988 by April 2. But underneath the pain, two things are quietly changing. Leverage is draining from the derivatives market at a pace we haven’t seen in weeks. And $324 million in BTC left exchanges over three days.

The losses persist. The structure holding them up doesn’t look the same.

Twelve Days of Losses and the Exit That Almost Was

0.999.

One-tenth of a percent from break-even. That’s how close SOPR got on April 1 – according to CryptoQuant data. Bitcoin’s SOPR hasn’t closed above 1.0 since mid-March. Every coin that changed hands in that stretch moved at a loss, on average.

And then it fell apart.

By April 2, SOPR dropped to 0.988 – sellers locked in a 1.2% average loss per transaction. But that’s the aggregate number. Zoom into long-term holders and it gets brutal.

LTH-SOPR, tracking coins held longer than 155 days, cratered to 0.771. A 23% average loss for Bitcoin’s most patient investors. What caught our attention: this is a double-dip. LTH-SOPR had recovered from its March 30 cycle low of 0.681 all the way to 0.991 by March 31 – a near-complete recovery in 24 hours. Then it crashed right back.

Long-term holders glimpsed break-even. They couldn’t exit fast enough before the door closed.

That kind of whipsaw doesn’t show up in orderly markets. It shows up at inflection points.

Short-term holders aren’t faring better – STH-SOPR sits at 0.985. And NUPL, the network’s net unrealized profit and loss gauge, reads 0.191. Still dancing above the capitulation threshold at 0.15. For context, the last time NUPL sat this low was November 2022 – BTC was trading at $16,000.

“While it may be early to identify the current market as the bottom, a phase in which losses become widespread would likely represent the final stage of fear and the beginning of opportunity,” said Crypto Dan, a CryptoQuant analyst, in a March 31 research note.

Bitcoin SOPR break-even rejection chart April 2026 showing 12 days below 1.0
Bitcoin SOPR 7-day trend. SOPR touched 0.999 on April 1 before falling back to 0.988. Source: CryptoQuant

It’s the crypto version of a poker player going all-in, watching the river card almost save them – and losing anyway. Same table, same hand, every day for twelve days.

Leverage Hits March Lows – But Not Why You’d Think

Why would leverage drop during a sideways market?

The estimated leverage ratio, measuring open interest relative to exchange reserves, fell to 0.225 on April 2 – down from 0.240 on March 27. A 6.3% decline in under a week, with no flash crash to explain it.

This isn’t forced liquidation. There was no $500 million wipeout like January. Traders are voluntarily closing positions and walking away. When speculators leave a loss-driven market on their own, what’s left is spot – real coins, real conviction, real capital.

CDD, or Coin Days Destroyed – tracking whether old dormant coins are being spent – came in at 6.34 million on April 2. Well below the long-term average. The March 31 spike to 23.9 million was a one-day redistribution event. Since then? Silence. The oldest coins on the network aren’t budging.

BTC estimated leverage ratio dropping to 0.225 in April 2026
BTC Estimated Leverage Ratio declined from 0.240 to 0.225 in one week – voluntary deleveraging. Source: CryptoQuant

Traders watching the $66K-$70K range will note that every prior cycle bottom shared two traits: leverage got flushed and spot accumulation continued quietly. Both are happening now.

$324M Left Exchanges While Sellers Lock In Losses

The last time exchange reserves dropped while SOPR stayed below 1.0 for this many consecutive days was November 2022.

We’ve tracked three straight days of net outflows: 3,549 BTC on April 1, 837 on April 2, and 446 so far on April 3. Roughly 4,832 BTC – about $324 million – moved off exchanges while the broader market sold every transaction at a loss.

Exchange reserves sit at 2,705,112 BTC, down nearly 5,000 from March 31. Not a dramatic drop. But persistent. Somebody’s absorbing supply at prices that most holders consider unprofitable.

ETF holdings stabilized too. After weeks of outflows draining roughly 6,000 BTC, spot Bitcoin ETF holdings plateaued at 1,318,472 BTC as of April 1. The bleeding stopped – though fresh institutional inflows haven’t kicked in yet.

The Stablecoin Supply Ratio dropped to 9.91 – roughly $135 billion in stablecoin buying power sitting on the sidelines relative to Bitcoin’s market cap. That ratio peaked above 10.0 on April 1 and is now declining. Dry powder is building, not shrinking.

Bitcoin’s realized price – the aggregate cost basis of every coin on the network – sits at $54,138, still 24% below spot. MVRV, which divides market value by realized value, reads 1.235. Our Bitcoin price prediction model flags MVRV below 1.3 as a historically reliable accumulation zone – the November 2022 bottom carried the same signature before BTC tripled.

Bitcoin exchange net flow chart showing three consecutive days of outflows in April 2026
BTC Exchange Net Flow flipped negative for three consecutive days – $324M in outflows. Source: CryptoQuant

The market can’t break even. But the market’s strongest hands keep buying anyway.

Support levels: $66,000 (24h low cluster), $64,000 (March swing low).
Resistance levels: $67,400 (24h high), $69,100 (early April bounce), $70,000 (psychological).

If SOPR breaks above 1.0 while exchange outflows persist, the setup starts rhyming with the November 2022 base that preceded a 300% rally. But if SOPR rolls over below 0.98 and exchange netflow flips positive, the $64,000 support becomes the last line before realized price territory.

Until sellers stop selling at a loss – or until buyers with $135 billion in stablecoins stop waiting – this standoff grinds on.

This analysis is part of our daily Bitcoin price tracking. See all previous analyses and key metrics on our hub page.

Twelve days of losses, a 0.1% miss at break-even, and $324 million quietly leaving exchanges. Something has to give – the question is whether sellers exhaust first or buyers blink.

This is not financial advice. DYOR. Data as of April 3, 2026.

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