The US-driven 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 flipped negative for the first time since early April, according to CryptoQuant data. This metric had consistently been positive from April 8 to April 22, during which time bitcoin rose from $66,000 to a local high of nearly $78,000.
However, the premium peaked around April 22 and has since declined. 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, indicating either more aggressive selling or a lack of buying interest. 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 realized loss figure, which tracks the total dollar value of coins moved at a loss across the network, implies that sellers were likely buyers who entered the market at higher prices, between $80,000 and $95,000, during late 2025 and early 2026. They appear to be using the April bounce as an exit point rather than an opportunity to re-enter the market.
The combination of these two datasets suggests that US institutional buyers are slowing their purchases through Coinbase, while holders are increasing their selling activity. With bitcoin recently trading around $76,000, traders will be watching to see if the realized loss metric continues to decline as the supply of underwater coins is worked through. The reading has already decreased from its April 24 peak to $4.7 billion by April 28, indicating that the seller cohort may be dwindling.