The upward momentum in the US that fueled April's price surge is losing steam. The Coinbase Premium, which measures the difference in price between Coinbase and offshore exchanges, has flipped negative for the first time since early April, according to CryptoQuant data. This metric had consistently shown a positive reading 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 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 activity.
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 surge in realized losses implies that sellers are offloading coins at prices below their original purchase price.
Notably, the $6 billion figure at the $78,000 price point suggests that these sellers likely entered the market between $80,000 and $95,000 in late 2025 and early 2026, using the April bounce as an exit opportunity rather than a reentry point. The combination of these two datasets indicates that US institutional buyers are slowing their purchasing activity through Coinbase, coinciding with increased selling by holders. 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 dropped from its April 24 peak to $4.7 billion by April 28, suggesting that the seller cohort is diminishing.