The US-driven buying momentum that fueled April's price surge is losing steam. The Coinbase Premium, which measures the difference between the price of Bitcoin on Coinbase and offshore exchanges, has turned negative for the first time since early April, according to CryptoQuant data. This metric had been consistently positive from April 8 to April 22, during which time Bitcoin's price rose from $66,000 to a local high of nearly $78,000.
The premium peaked around April 22 and has been declining since. As Coinbase is often used as a proxy for US institutional and dollar-denominated flows, a persistent negative reading suggests that American investors are now paying less than the rest of the world, either due to more aggressive selling or reduced buying activity. On-chain data supports this narrative, with the 7-day sum of Bitcoin Realized Losses spiking to $5.97 billion on April 24, as Bitcoin traded near $78,000. This indicates that sellers were likely buyers who entered the market at higher prices, between $80,000 and $95,000, during late 2025 and early 2026, and are now using the April bounce as an opportunity to exit.
The decline in the Realized Loss metric, which has already fallen to $4.7 billion by April 28, suggests that the seller cohort is dwindling. Bitcoin was recently trading around $76,000, and traders will be watching to see if the Realized Loss metric continues to fall as the underwater supply is worked through.