Bitcoin entered the third week of September under selling pressure that tested investor resilience but fell short of sparking the sort of capitulation that has defined earlier drawdowns in 2025.
From Sept. 17 through Sept. 22, the market absorbed a $3,759 decline in spot price, accompanied by a marked increase in the percentage of coins and UTXOs held at a loss. However, in statistical terms, the episode sits squarely in the middle of this year’s distribution of stress events, not at the extremes.
On Sept. 17, Bitcoin price closed at $116,478 with 6.16% of circulating supply in loss and 2.68% of UTXOs underwater. Five days later, as the price slipped to $112,719, those figures had risen to 11.12% and 5.35%, respectively.
This represents an expansion of nearly five percentage points in loss-bearing supply and 2.7 percentage points in UTXOs at a loss. Clear increases, but well below the year’s worst readings.
Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL), a measure of aggregate paper profit relative to realized cost basis, fell from 0.541 to 0.524 during the same window, pushing the market toward lower profitability but still far from critical thresholds.
Spot volume increased by 26.7%, signaling active selling into the down-move, before collapsing on Sept. 23 as price steadied near $113,163. The pattern reflects a short, sharp expansion of activity around the Monday downturn, followed by a lull rather than continued acceleration. This sequence distinguishes the episode from earlier in the year, when declines were met with persistent volume spikes and cascading losses.
Comparing these September readings to the broader year clarifies the distinction. During a deeper drawdown to the mid-$70,000s in late March and early April, supply in loss peaked near 26% and UTXOs in loss near 12%, with NUPL falling to 0.425. Those values placed the spring cluster in the extreme tail of the distribution, equivalent to 95th-99th percentile stress prints. In contrast, the Sept. 22 numbers map to roughly the 59th percentile for supply in loss, the 69th for UTXOs in loss, and the 25th for NUPL.
That middle-of-the-distribution placement has implications for how the market can absorb further downside. It shows that even a modest $3,700 retracement at six-figure prices can push several percentage points of supply into loss, reflecting the elasticity of profit margins near all-time highs.
However, due to the expansion stopping well short of the thresholds that have historically coincided with deeper capitulation (i.e., STH realized price), it leaves considerable room before the market encounters true stress. This downtick increased unrealized losses but did not bring the system near breaking points.
This setup creates a binary tension. If price stabilizes or recovers, the elevated share of underwater supply can quickly turn back to profit, reinforcing holders’ conviction. However, if declines resume, the loss percentages could accelerate toward the 20%+ zone where historical stress events have clustered. Monitoring those thresholds, including supply in loss above 23%, UTXOs in loss above 10%, and NUPL under 0.47, remains the best guide for identifying when pressure is shifting from ordinary to extraordinary.
Therefore, the Sept. 17 to Sept. 23 period stands as a jolt rather than a rupture. Bitcoin’s market structure absorbed a moderate price decline, redistributed paper losses across cohorts, and produced a visible but not alarming contraction in profitability.
In contrast to the dramatic stress events earlier in 2025, this week showed the market’s resilience at higher nominal prices, while reminding participants that unrealized margins remain sensitive to retracements below important psychological levels.
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