The sell-side risk ratio for long-term holders has only shown a modest uptick. On Mar. 23, this ratio sat at 745.8μ and gradually climbed to 0.001679 by Apr. 10. This increase is statistically minor, especially when contrasted with the sharp movements seen in short-term cohorts. It suggests that long-term holders are not engaging in panic selling or strategic exits despite geopolitical escalation and increased noise in the derivatives and ETF markets.

Their behavior instead aligns with a phase of ongoing accumulation. This group’s 30-day net position change has remained positive for an entire month, rising from 0.17% on Mar. 12 to 2.19% by Apr. 10. This indicates that coins held for long durations continue to move into stronger hands, either through direct acquisition or passive aging.

This accumulation is particularly noteworthy when juxtaposed with price action. Bitcoin traded above $82,000 in the days leading up to April 10, only to see a sharp drawdown that brought prices closer to the $76,000 level. The fact that long-term holders are still adding to positions during this price instability implies that they are unfazed by the current retracement and view the prevailing market environment as part of a larger accumulation phase. Historically, long-term holders tend to distribute during periods of euphoria and aggressive price discovery, not during geopolitical or macro-driven pullbacks.

The behavior of short-term holders paints a different picture. This group has been much more reactive, with the sell-side risk ratio fluctuating within a broader and more volatile range. Since the beginning of the year, this metric has moved between 425μ and 0.001855.

In the most recent stretch from April 6 to April 10, it jumped from 713μ to 0.001302, following the escalated tensions between the US and China, a broad sell-off in risk assets, and a meaningful outflow from spot Bitcoin ETFs. This sudden increase in sell-side risk from short-term participants suggests heightened sensitivity to price and macro triggers.

Unlike their long-term counterparts, short-term holders tend to have weaker convictions, higher leverage exposure, and a shorter time horizon. Their propensity to sell in reaction to volatility amplifies intraday swings and contributes to short-term liquidity stress. This is especially relevant given that the broader market has faced a $450 million outflow from Bitcoin ETFs over just a few sessions. The confluence of short-term selling pressure and ETF redemptions generates a reflexive loop where falling prices are exacerbated by weak hands selling into the fear.

However, the structural implication of this divergence is stabilizing rather than destabilizing. Short-term selling, in isolation, does not inherently compromise Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory. What matters is whether long-term holders respond to these sell-offs by reducing their own exposure. That has not happened so far. The persistent accumulation of long-term holders, even as the market corrects, implies an ongoing belief in the long-term thesis and suggests that the market is undergoing short-term rebalancing.

It is important to consider the broader macro backdrop to contextualize these behaviors. China’s announcement of a 125% tariff on US goods has sharply elevated geopolitical friction while pressuring global risk markets.

Gold has rallied as capital seeks safety, oil has declined amid demand fears, and US equity futures have weakened. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has struggled to find a clear direction due to its dual role as a risk-on speculative asset and a hedge against macroeconomic stress. In this context, it is natural to expect participants with lower time preferences to exit while more strategic capital consolidates positions.

The post Long-term holders continue to accumulate as short-term sellers react to market stress appeared first on CryptoSlate.

I am not always what one would call the perfect state of calm. I have a lot of anxiety about the present and the future.

Also, my family, like anyone’s family, can be hectic. I could go for a walk, but I don’t often get around to it, instead getting stuck in my day-to-day routine. Being that I live in such a small place, there isn’t really anywhere all that quiet. And even if I were in a quiet place, then that wouldn’t stop the anxieties and ruminations in my head.

Listening to music and whale sounds has helped me calm down a little in the past, but what I need is to be able to keep myself from spiraling too far into my thoughts.

Thankfully, with advancements in technology, many tools are available to help me retain my sanity, even when an actual therapist is not within reach.

A couple tools that have supported me are Tripp’s virtual reality meditation program and their free mobile app. Tripp’s VR app made sense for me, being that I have found video games to be a sanctuary to tune out the anxieties in my head and get lost in another realm. This has also been the case for Tripp’s co-founder and CEO, Nanea Reeves.

“I realized throughout my journey that video games have been kind of a retreat for me at times in my life,” said Reeves. “Even the casual ones on my phone, if I am kind of just ruminating on a lot of negative internal talk, I can play something and it sort of clears my head.”

I tried out the free VR app demo a handful of occasions, when I have felt particularly at a loss. It gave me a private space, even if it was a virtual space, where I could ease my tension a little, and just be. This was thanks to an immersive, multi-sensory experience, with a serene audio track and vibrant visuals, like something out of a kaleidoscope.

The immersive nature of virtual reality is another aspect of what inspired the genesis of Tripp as a concept.

“I was an investor in the Oculus early stage of their company, and that gave me access to devices,” said Reeves. “And a lot of the early experiences were designed to make you feel afraid, you know, you felt like you were on a cliff . . . And that was really interesting to me. I thought, if you could make someone feel fear that easily what else could you make them feel?

I got treated to a surreal fireworks display on launch, then the Tripp hummingbird, who is coincidentally also named Terrence, came and visited. I then performed a short exercise where, by tilting my head, I navigated a spherical object through a path of obstacles where I had to collect coins as they went by. The voice of the application suggested seeing the gaps between obstacles as the gaps between thoughts, which is “where the joy lies,” as the narrator puts it.

The best way to explain this, as author Pema Chödrön puts it, is seeing rays of sunshine that peek through the clouds. Having this kind of visual metaphor for my mental activity was something novel to me, imagining my thoughts as physical objects, and looking between them to see the sunshine. Especially for those who tend to think in terms of images, this can be a powerful metaphor.

Another of Tripp’s tools that I have relied on is its AI assistant, Kōkua, which has recently hit the VR application.

Kokua is fairly straightforward: I type my current mood in the prompt, and the AI voice assistant, based on CEO Nanea Reeves’ voice, offers words of comfort. It then creates a short reflection – some words to guide me through dealing with the stressors I am experiencing, lasting just over two minutes. At the end, I am welcome to provide feedback on whether the meditation helped at all.

I found that, the majority of the time, the app was quite helpful. There was one occasion where the app mistakenly thought I had children, but most of the time it could understand what I was trying to say. I think that is what I needed most, to know that it was okay to feel what I felt, and to have that legitimized.

One of the reasons that Kōkua was released to mobile initially, according to Reeves, was to receive feedback from users before releasing the app through Tripp’s subscription-based VR app.

“We have a smaller audience on mobile,” continued Reeves. “We wanted to learn and see where we might have gotten certain things wrong, based on how people are interacting with it for support.”

While Tripp’s VR and mobile applications are helpful, Reeves hopes to avoid the tools being used in the place of trained professional therapists.

“We do have some connections to different support lines,” she added.

If the AI detects that someone might need real support, if they’re in a crisis, there’s a connection to real professional support.

Tripp’s tools are not therapy in themselves, but from my experience, they have helped in times of distress. If I can’t change what is happening around me, the VR app and mobile app at least help me to feel like I can deal with the challenges, that there is a calm within the middle of the storm. Life has its share of conflicts and arguments. Even if things aren’t okay, Tripp allowed me, even for a moment, to be okay.

Tripp VR is a colorful, calming experience, and while Kōkua is not a licensed counselor, it does make a big difference to at least have the feeling that someone was hearing my struggles and being empathetic, even if that empathy was coming from a computer program.

VR and AI have immense potential for improving people’s psychological well-being, and the advances in the technology could become useful as another tool set for mental health professionals.

Terrence J. Smith has contributed his writing to nonprofits and both print and digital publications. He enjoys all things technology, but remembers to meditate and appreciate the outside world.

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