The US-driven momentum that fueled April's price surge is losing steam. The Coinbase Premium, which measures the difference between Coinbase prices and those on 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 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 investment 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 increased selling or decreased 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 holders are selling coins at a loss, with the total value of these losses reaching nearly $6 billion.
According to CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr., the 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 reenter. 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 are watching to see if the Realized Loss metric will continue 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.