The US-driven rally in April is losing momentum. 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 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 indicates that American investors are paying less than the rest of the world, suggesting they are either selling more aggressively or not participating in the market. On-chain data supports this narrative, with the 7-day sum of Bitcoin Realized Loss spiking to $5.97 billion on April 24 as Bitcoin traded near $78,000.
This suggests 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 two datasets indicates that US institutional buyers are slowing their purchases on Coinbase, while holders are increasing their selling activity.
Bitcoin was recently trading around $76,000. Traders will be watching to see if the Realized Loss metric continues to decline as the underwater supply is worked through, with the reading already falling to $4.7 billion by April 28, suggesting the seller cohort is dwindling.