Bitcoin breakout path holds despite surge in long-term profit taking

Beincrypto reports Bitcoin’s bullish breakout path remains intact despite a marked rise in profit taking by long-term holders, according to chart structure and on-chain data. After the first peak of 2026 on January 14, BTC corrected by nearly 6%, briefly dipping toward the $92,000 area, and was still showing about a 2.6% fall over the past 24 hours.

On the daily chart the coin remains inside the handle of a cup-and-handle pattern above a rising neckline, while RSI between November 4 and January 19 made a higher low as price made a lower low, a divergence that can signal weakening selling pressure. On-chain metrics show long-term holder NUPL fell from around 0.60 to 0.58 and long-term holder selling rose from roughly 25,738 BTC on January 14 to about 62,656 BTC by January 18 (an increase of roughly 150%), even as entities holding more than 1,000 BTC moved from about 1,273 to roughly 1,290 since January 12 and BTC ETFs saw almost $900 million in inflows on January 13, the B2BINPAY analytics team said.

Price must reclaim $95,200 to signal a breakout from the handle, with $98,800 the next major level and a pattern projection near $111,800—about 13% above the cup’s dynamic neckline—if cleared.

Key Topics

Crypto, Bitcoin, Long-term Holders, Whales, Nupl, Glassnode