While monitoring the market today, I noticed a subtle data change—

The Bitcoin balance on centralized exchanges has dropped to around 1.8 million coins.

What does this number mean? It’s the lowest level since 2017. We haven't seen such a low supply in eight years.

Many people might think this is because the bear market has driven users away, but the reality is quite the opposite. What’s really happening is much more alarming: someone is systematically removing tradable coins from the market.

Whether the price rises or not is just a surface phenomenon, but the underlying market structure is undergoing a fundamental shift—your BTC holdings are decreasing, and the amount of BTC that can be sold across the network is also decreasing in sync.

**Why is it so important that exchange balances keep dropping?**

Because this directly changes the fundamentals of supply and demand. When the tradable supply drops, it means there are fewer “bullets” available to dump on the market. Sellers can’t find enough coins to sell, and buyers have to chase prices higher.

The whole market enters a “dry-up state”—prices become extremely sensitive to even small fluctuations in demand.

What does 1.8 million coins mean? It’s less than during the craziest bull runs of 2017. If there were another wave of institutional demand for 100,000 BTC right now, the market’s liquidity could be instantly drained, triggering an explosive rally.

**The more critical signal isn’t just the “low balance”—it’s the fact that it keeps dropping**

BRN’s head of research recently mentioned a point I find very accurate:
“Price momentum is limited, but the underlying structure is steadily improving.”

Translated, this means—the market may not be rallying much, but coins are being quietly accumulated.

This state is even more noteworthy than a simple price increase. It means capital is accumulating coins relentlessly, regardless of cost, completely unconcerned with short-term price swings. Once enough coins are locked up, the market only needs a catalyst to ignite a full-blown explosion.