The rush into bitcoin over the past two years is starting to reverse, with more holders moving to sell as the market struggles to regain momentum. Public companies once viewed as long-term stewards of large BTC reserves are increasingly trimming positions, citing balance-sheet pressure and shifting strategic priorities. Empery Digital (EMPD) said Wednesday it sold 370 BTC at an average price of $66,632, raising $24.7 million and reducing its holdings to 2,989 BTC. The company said it used part of the proceeds to fully repay an outstanding term loan and freed roughly 1,800 BTC that had been pledged as collateral. Empery began building its bitcoin treasury in July 2025 and at one point held about 4,000 BTC. Its shares are down 75% from a 2025 peak of $15.80. Genius Group (GNS), an AI-powered, bitcoin-focused education company that held as much as 440 BTC in March last year, has exited its position entirely. It recently sold its final 84 BTC to repay $8.5 million of debt and said it plans to resume building a bitcoin treasury when it views conditions as more favorable. Selling pressure is also appearing among larger players. Riot Platforms (RIOT), one of the biggest U.S.-listed bitcoin miners, has also been reducing holdings, according to blockchain activity tracked by Lookonchain. The company reportedly moved 500 BTC worth about $34.13 million on Wednesday as it continues drawing on its bitcoin reserves to fund a pivot toward AI and high-performance computing. Riot sold about $200 million worth of bitcoin in the final two months of 2025. Built primarily through ongoing mining rather than a single treasury-start date, Riot's holdings previously topped 19,000 BTC and now stand at roughly 17,500 BTC. Government selling has added to the trend. Bhutan has sold a total of 3,103 BTC, according to Glassnode data, including a transaction on March 30 that reportedly liquidated 375 BTC. Bhutan accumulated bitcoin over several years through state-backed mining, peaking at more than 13,000 BTC in October 2024. Despite the wave of liquidations, public bitcoin treasury companies still collectively hold around 1,164,800 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net—more than 5% of bitcoin's 21 million total supply. Bitcoin was last trading around $66,500, down more than 2% since midnight UTC, according to CoinDesk data. Read more: MARA Holdings higher by 10% after selling $1.1 billion in bitcoin to fund debt buyback

Metaplanet has added 5,075 bitcoin to its balance sheet, taking total holdings to 40,177 BTC and positioning the company as the third-largest bitcoin holder among publicly listed firms.

Metaplanet said it has purchased 5,075 bitcoin for $398 million, taking its total holdings to 40,177 BTC, valued at about $3.9 billion. The Japan-based firm now ranks as the world's third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing Twenty One Capital and Strategy.

Bitcoin continues to trade in a broad $60,000–$70,000 band, with volatility easing and few near-term catalysts to drive a decisive move. Glassnode notes early signs of spot-market accumulation, while derivatives positioning looks largely reset and more balanced. Still, the market lacks the conviction typically seen ahead of a sustained breakout. Key takeaways - Bitcoin remains rangebound between $60,000 and $70,000. - URPD data shows heavy overhead supply between $80,000 and $126,000. Clearing that cluster may require either a deeper price discount or a lengthy redistribution period. - Total Supply in Loss is near 8.4 million BTC, echoing the market structure seen in Q2 2022. In that episode, about 3 million BTC needed to change hands before conditions normalized around the cycle midpoint. - Long-term holder realized losses have risen steadily since November 2025 to roughly $200 million per day, signaling active capitulation. A drop below $25 million per day would be a key threshold historically associated with bottom formation. - Coinbase spot cumulative volume differential has turned slightly positive, suggesting spot buyers are beginning to absorb selling pressure, though demand remains weaker than typical durable-low conditions. - Corporate treasury flows have narrowed: Marathon has distributed about 15,000 BTC, while Strategy remains the only institution consistently making large-scale purchases. - Perpetual futures directional premium has compressed to near neutral, slightly below zero, reflecting reduced long leverage and cooling speculation. Open interest looks less momentum-driven as longs close and shorts reappear. - Options markets are pricing a calmer near-term regime: implied volatility has softened across the curve, skew is tilting down again but remains well below levels linked to aggressive hedging demand. - Gamma positioning has moved back into a market-supportive state after the recent negative-gamma phase, suggesting market-maker short-term positioning has stabilized. On-chain: loss supply remains a structural overhang With price consolidating between $60,000 and $70,000, Glassnode focuses on the supply bought above $80,000 that now sits in unrealized loss. That cohort has endured more than six months of drawdown and faces a two-way behavioral outcome: sell into rallies to limit losses, or capitulate if declines deepen. URPD highlights a dense concentration of coins acquired between $80,000 and $126,000. Resolving that overhang likely requires either a meaningful discount that attracts new demand or a prolonged transfer of coins from weaker hands to higher-conviction holders. To quantify the scale, Glassnode uses Total Supply in Loss, which measures circulating BTC last moved at prices above spot. Smoothed with a 30-day simple moving average, it sits around 8.4 million BTC, implying roughly 8–9 million coins have remained underwater over the past month. The size of that figure, combined with spot hovering near the cycle midline, resembles Q2 2022 dynamics. In 2022, the market only reclaimed the cycle midline decisively after Total Supply in Loss fell from above 8 million BTC to roughly 5 million BTC. That suggests around 3 million BTC had to be redistributed before market conditions improved. Tracking redistribution: capitulation still active The Long-Term Holder Realized Loss metric captures realized losses from investors holding for more than six months who are selling below cost. Glassnode says the 30-day average has climbed steadily since November 2025 and is now about $200 million per day, confirming active long-term holder capitulation. While that process is part of bear-market cleanup, it has not historically been sufficient on its own to signal a durable turn. A more convincing sign would be a cooldown below $25 million per day, consistent with prior bottoming phases. Off-chain: spot demand improves, but remains tentative Coinbase spot volume dynamics show early stabilization. The 30-day moving average of Coinbase spot volume differential has flipped slightly positive after an extended negative stretch in January and early February, when selling pressure dominated. The shift suggests buyers are beginning to absorb available supply as prices stabilize. Glassnode cautions the positive spread remains modest, indicating tentative demand rather than strong conviction. Historically, sustained recoveries have required persistent positive spot inflows rather than brief buying bursts. Corporate treasuries: participation narrows Treasury activity has become more selective. Broad-based corporate accumulation has weakened in recent months, replaced by uneven flows. Marathon’s distribution of about 15,000 BTC stands out as a clear example of a corporate treasury reducing exposure. Strategy, by contrast, remains the only consistent large-scale buyer, continuing regular purchases while other companies participate more sporadically. That shift suggests corporate demand is now less diversified and more dependent on a single dominant participant, making it a less reliable pillar of support than earlier in the cycle. Derivatives: leverage reset and sentiment cools Perpetual futures directional premium has continued to compress, with the 30-day sum approaching neutral and slightly below zero. Glassnode interprets this as a clear cooling from prior bullish conditions: long-biased speculative leverage is being unwound and short interest is returning. The result is a more balanced but more cautious perpetual market structure, a pattern often seen during consolidation after extended directional moves. Options: volatility expectations soften, downside bias persists Following an options open-interest reset, implied volatility has moved lower across the term structure versus last week, led by the front end. At-the-money implied volatility is around 51% for one week and 49% for three months, with other tenors tightly clustered in between; the six-month tenor is about 49.8%. The compressed curve points to reduced near-term demand for volatility exposure. Skew signals rebuilding downside protection. A higher 25-delta skew (puts minus calls) reflects greater demand for hedges. Last week, the 1-week skew hit a monthly high of 22.7% before retracing, showing sensitivity to immediate price action. Longer-dated skews stayed elevated at 17.4% for one month and 13.2% for six months, indicating continued appetite for medium- and long-horizon protection. Gamma positioning and a fragile liquidity backdrop Glassnode highlights negative gamma building below spot, spanning roughly $68,000 down to above $50,000. That suggests meaningful put demand under current levels, positioning market makers on the other side. In a negative-gamma environment, hedging can amplify downside moves as dealers sell into weakness. With liquidity still described as thin following the March 27 contract expiration, the structure looks fragile. A move into that zone could intensify hedging flows and accelerate downside, potentially revisiting $60,000, the low from the February 5 selloff. Implied vs. realized volatility: risk is being priced despite calm tape Another destabilizing feature is implied volatility staying above realized volatility. On the front end, 1-week realized volatility is around 38% while 1-week implied volatility is near 49%, an 11-percentage-point gap that has persisted for more than three weeks. Glassnode views this as a sign participants are still paying for protection even as price action remains muted, reflecting low confidence. When implied exceeds realized and gamma is negative, relatively modest selling can produce outsized price swings because the market may have limited capacity to absorb flows coming off a compressed pricing base. Bottom line Bitcoin remains locked in a $60,000–$70,000 range. The market is showing early stabilization signals, but not enough momentum for a clear breakout. On-chain data still points to an ongoing recovery and redistribution phase: underwater supply remains large and long-term holder capitulation has not fully cooled. Spot demand is improving at the margin, suggesting sellers no longer fully control the tape. Off-chain conditions look more balanced as leverage resets, implied volatility softens, and market-maker positioning stabilizes. Even so, clearer conviction and a more meaningful pickup in spot demand may be needed before the overhead supply above $80,000 begins to clear and rangebound trading gives way to a sustained trend.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw combined net outflows of $174 million on April 1, according to SoSoValue data. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the declines, with $86.52 million leaving the fund. Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF stood out as the only notable gainer, posting the largest single-day net inflow among spot Bitcoin ETFs at $10.25 million. Pressure also extended to Ethereum ETFs. Total net outflows reached $7.10 million on April 1, while BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) recorded $32.26 million in outflows, the biggest drop among the group.

MetaPlanet, a Tokyo-listed investment firm that has repositioned itself as an aggressive corporate buyer of Bitcoin, said it purchased 5,075 BTC for about $400 million in Q1 2026. The buy lifts its holdings to 40,177 BTC, valued at roughly $2.7 billion. The addition pushes MetaPlanet into third place among publicly traded companies by Bitcoin reserves, surpassing MARA Holdings after MARA recently sold $1.1 billion worth of Bitcoin. MetaPlanet is also closing the gap with Twenty One Capital, which holds 43,514 BTC worth about $2.9 billion. Founded in 1999 as a hospitality-focused business, MetaPlanet spent years under profitability pressure before pivoting to Bitcoin in 2024. Over the following two years, it set up two new subsidiaries to broaden its Bitcoin strategy beyond simple accumulation. At the start of 2025, it held fewer than 2,000 BTC; in roughly 15 months, reserves have expanded by about 2,180%. The company is targeting 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027. Bitcoin "Income Business" offsets part of acquisition cost MetaPlanet said its Bitcoin Income Business generated about $19.8 million in revenue during the quarter, equivalent to roughly $3,900 per BTC acquired. The company said this effectively lowers its net purchase cost and is close to the market VWAP benchmark of around $79.1K. The approach pairs options-based income generation with ongoing accumulation so that operating revenue can partially offset purchases. On performance metrics, MetaPlanet reported a BTC Yield of 2.8% for Q1 2026, following higher yields through 2025. The firm describes BTC Yield as growth in Bitcoin holdings relative to share dilution; BTC Gain as accumulation excluding dilution effects; and BTC USD Gain as the dollar translation of that gain. The Q1 buying followed a $255 million capital raise in late March, with proceeds earmarked for Bitcoin purchases. Early estimates had pointed to 3,600–3,700 BTC, and the company said total funding could rise to $531 million if warrants are exercised, enabling larger-scale accumulation.

BULLISH: Metaplanet has added 5,075 BTC, taking its total Bitcoin holdings to 40,177 and strengthening its standing among the largest corporate Bitcoin treasuries worldwide.

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet (@Metaplanet) disclosed a major Bitcoin purchase, acquiring 5,075 BTC in a single transaction valued at about $340 million. The move brings the company's total Bitcoin holdings to 40,177 BTC, worth roughly $2.7 billion. Metaplanet has been steadily increasing its BTC position, reinforcing its status as Asia's largest corporate Bitcoin holder.

German firm Blocktrainer has entered the corporate Bitcoin treasury race with the launch of the Blocktrainer Bitcoin Treasury Company (BTBTCTC), positioning the new vehicle as a challenger to Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy. Founder Roman Reher said the plan is to operate as a publicly traded entity dedicated exclusively to building a BTC treasury. Blocktrainer has set a headline target of accumulating 1 million BTC by 2030, using capital markets and leverage with the stated goal of outperforming Bitcoin itself. "Bitcoin is our hurdle rate," Reher said, arguing that consistent outperformance versus BTC underpins a higher valuation. To report progress, the company plans to publish metrics including Bitcoin Return Rate (BRR), BTC Gain and BTC Torque, aimed at measuring how efficiently it increases Bitcoin per share. Blocktrainer also projects its multiple net asset value (mNAV) could reach 10x under its strategy. For a public listing, Blocktrainer is pursuing a reverse merger with Windeln.AI, an AI-focused company. After completion, the combined company is expected to trade under the ticker WNDLN. Funding options under consideration range from common stock and preferred equity to bond-style instruments described as "diaper bonds," intended to support additional Bitcoin purchases. One of the proposed instruments is a perpetual preferred share under the ticker MAUL, which the company says would offer a 21% monthly dividend yield. Blocktrainer said the product is designed to create "smart leverage" and link the roughly $300 trillion bond market to Bitcoin. As Blocktrainer ramps up, MicroStrategy disclosed it did not acquire any new Bitcoin between March 23 and March 29, according to a regulatory filing. The pause ended a 13-week buying streak that began in December 2025. MicroStrategy still holds 762,099 BTC, acquired at an average price of $75,694 per coin, with Saylor remaining the public face of the strategy. The filing also indicated MicroStrategy did not issue new shares through its at-the-market program during that period. The company continues to pursue additional funding capacity, including a $42 billion facility aimed at supporting future Bitcoin purchases. MicroStrategy recently reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit related to its STRK proposal. The parties agreed to dismiss the case, with MicroStrategy committing to seek shareholder approval for changes at its next annual meeting and to cover the plaintiff's legal fees. The company's financing toolkit continues to evolve, with instruments such as STRK and STRC cited as part of its longer-term plan to fund further Bitcoin accumulation. The post "MicroStrategy Faces New Rival as German Firm Eyes 1M Bitcoin Treasury" appeared first on The Coin Republic.