Bitcoin’s ownership structure is shifting rapidly in 2026 from short-term individual investors to long-term holders and institutions.

Blockchain media outlet Cryptopolitan reported on April 23 that over the past 30 days, short-term holders cut holdings by about 290,000 BTC, while long-term holders, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and structured strategies absorbed more than 370,000 BTC.

The expansion in long-term holdings is also clear. Bitcoin that has not moved for more than 155 days rose to about 8.32 million BTC in mid-April from 5.26 million BTC in January. Long-term holders account for about 14.8 million BTC, or roughly 75 percent of circulating supply.

Institutional money also quickly absorbed newly mined supply in early 2026. Institutional demand took in about six times the newly mined amount and bought nearly all new supply. That weakened the selling pressure that typically emerges after a halving, lowering volatility and supporting price levels at the bottom.

ETF flows also moved against individual investor sentiment. In April 2026, bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows even as the Crypto Fear and Greed Index stayed in an extreme fear zone of 7 to 9. Holdings of spot bitcoin ETFs exceeded 1.3 million BTC, accounting for about 6 to 7 percent of total supply. Of that, about 24.5 percent was classified as institutional holdings.

Exchange liquidity is shrinking further. As ETFs and corporate purchases absorbed almost all daily new supply, exchange reserves fell to their lowest level in years. At the end of March, $1.57 billion flowed out of Bitfinex and $728 million flowed out of Kraken. Centralised exchange holdings also fell to below 2.7 million BTC in March 2026 from more than 3.2 million BTC in 2023. CryptoQuant analysts pointed to the $74,000 to $75,000 range as a new institutional support zone.

Institutional buying continued. Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, bought 34,164 BTC over the week of April 13 to 19, lifting total holdings to more than 815,000 BTC. About 160 listed companies worldwide hold a total of 1.1 million BTC. U.S. spot ETFs logged about $2 billion of net inflows over the past four weeks, and BlackRock’s IBIT added about 21,500 BTC over nine days.