Bitcoin Liquid & Illiquid Supply

Every Bitcoin currently in circulation sits in a wallet. The page splits those wallets into groups based on how often the coins move. Long-held coins (sometimes called illiquid supply) live in wallets that rarely send or receive — usually owned by long-term holders who treat Bitcoin as a savings asset. The trading pool (liquid supply) is everything else: coins in wallets that move them regularly. Inside the trading pool, a smaller slice — changing hands (hot supply) — has been actively moving in the last few weeks. The colored bar on the page splits the trading pool into the slower-moving portion and the active changing-hands portion, so all three pieces sum to 100%.

The scarcity ratio divides the long-held pool by the trading pool. When the ratio is high, most Bitcoin is locked away by long-term holders and there's less available to buy. When it's low, more coins sit in the trading pool. Raw values shift slowly over years as the supply matures, so today's ratio gets compared against the last 4 years of itself — that comparison is the percentile shown on the page. "Hard to Buy" (high percentile) and "Easy to Buy" (low percentile) mean the same thing across cycles.

Historically, the supply-availability picture has loosely tracked price cycles. Periods near the "Hard to Buy" end have often coincided with stretches where long-term holders absorb supply ahead of major price moves up. Periods near the "Easy to Buy" end have often coincided with cycle tops or selling phases — when long-term holders are selling to new buyers. The relationship isn't mechanical and shouldn't be read as a price prediction, but the historical context is part of what makes the percentile useful.