The US-driven momentum that fueled April's rally 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 paying less than the rest of the world, indicating either more aggressive selling or a lack of participation. On-chain data supports this narrative, with the 7-day sum of Bitcoin Realized Loss reaching $5.97 billion on April 24, as Bitcoin traded near $78,000. This spike in realized losses implies that sellers are selling coins below their original purchase price. According to CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr., these sellers likely entered the market between $80,000 and $95,000 in late 2025 and early 2026, using the April bounce as an opportunity to exit rather than re-enter.
The combination of these datasets suggests that US institutional buyers are slowing their pace on Coinbase, while holders are increasing their selling activity. With Bitcoin recently trading around $76,000, traders are watching to see if the Realized Loss metric will continue to decline as the underwater supply 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 is diminishing.