Bitcoin is holding above $80,000 despite fresh profit-taking by short-term holders following its recent rally. Glassnode reports that trading volume remains above its August low, while on-chain analysts Darkfost, Doctor Profit, and CryptoQuant are tracking key cost-basis levels that could determine whether recent buyers are able to defend their positions.

Trading Activity Holds Above August's Low

Glassnode said in an X post that Bitcoin trading volume had fallen to its lowest level since 2023 before a spike in August. Even after the latest market pullback, volume has remained above that low, pointing to continued trading interest after months of limited activity.

Darkfost, in turn, reported that short-term holders sent 28,690 BTC in profit to exchanges over a 24-hour span. The transfers occurred as Bitcoin rallied above $80,000. Such transfers are generally read as realized profit, as exchanges are where holders most directly sell into the market. Despite the selling, BTC closed the day above $80,000 and above both its 21-day and 50-day exponential moving averages, trend indicators that weight recent prices more heavily and are widely used to gauge short- and medium-term trend direction.

Bitcoin Tests Two Important Cost-Basis Levels

Darkfost also placed Bitcoin's volume-weighted realized price near $80,800. The measure weights acquired supply by its dollar volume and estimates the average break-even price of invested capital. Bitcoin is now trading near that level, where holders' positions sit between unrealized profit and loss. Levels of this kind are closely watched because they mark the prices at which significant groups of holders break even on their positions.

CryptoQuant separately said BTC is testing the Trader Realized Price, a metric that tracks the average acquisition price of coins last moved between one and three months ago. According to the firm, the level can act as support while price holds above it. If BTC falls below and fails to reclaim it, recent buyers could move into losses, turning the level into resistance. With multiple cost-basis measures converging near current prices, the zone around $80,000 has become a focal point for on-chain analysis.

Analysts Watch for a Stronger Reclaim

Doctor Profit identified “Level 2” in an X post as the next area to watch after panic selling linked to a hack. The analyst said a break followed by a reclaim, confirmed by daily closes above the level, would suggest buyers had absorbed the selling and were regaining control. A brief touch alone would not meet that condition.

CryptoQuant likewise cautioned that the market's reaction to the Trader Realized Price matters more than treating the metric as a guaranteed bottom. A sustained hold could show that recent participants' cost basis remains support. A failed reclaim, by contrast, could expose Bitcoin to further downside pressure.