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Short-term holders are experiencing mounting pressure as Bitcoin’s speculative excess begins to cool, according to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode.

The Short-Term Holder NUPL, a Bitcoin metric tracking unrealized profit or loss for holders who’ve acquired coins in recent months, is signaling entry into loss territory amid ongoing market resets. Recent buyers now face growing unrealized losses as market sentiment shifts from optimism to stress.

On-chain data indicates short-term holder capitulation events are laying groundwork for potential market resets, with current stress signals emerging as a precursor to healthier market conditions.

Rapid recoveries in short-term holder metrics have historically been observed during disbelief phases of bull markets, aligning with the current cooling of speculative activity across Bitcoin markets.

MetaMask, the popular crypto wallet for the Ethereum network, today denied the existence of a MASK token after Coinbase-backed decentralized exchange LogX listed speculative pre-market trading for the purported asset.

Please be aware that projects indicating trading, or pre-market trading, of a MetaMask token are unaffiliated with Consensys.

There is no MetaMask token.

These advertisements and promotions are for speculative platforms unrelated to Consensys and without our involvement or…

— MetaMask.eth (@MetaMask) March 3, 2025

The denial came after LogX announced the launch of MASK pre-markets on its platform.

$MASK ( @MetaMask ) Pre-Markets are LIVE on LogX

Degens must speculate. Read Disclaimer pic.twitter.com/YYx8jWTeJm

— LogX (@LogX_trade) March 3, 2025

LogX, which offers perpetual futures, options and spot trading, acknowledged in its disclaimer that “markets on LogX are not officially endorsed by project teams and may not reflect the market’s expectations of a token’s launch value.”

The development follows last week’s agreement by the SEC to drop its enforcement case against ConsenSys’s MetaMask wallet tool, pending commissioner approval.

“No company wants to be the target of agency enforcement, but at the same time, it was our duty and honor to stand up for blockchain software developers in the hour it was most needed,” said Joe Lubin, CEO of ConsenSys.

While MetaMask’s parent company ConsenSys had previously confirmed plans for a token in March 2022, with CEO Joseph Lubin announcing intentions for “progressive decentralization” through a token and DAO structure, no specific timeline was provided.

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Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon dismissed Bitcoin’s potential to challenge the US dollar’s dominance, describing it as “an interesting speculative asset.”

“At the end of the day, I’m a big believer in the US dollar. I think the US dollar is super important,” Solomon said in a Wednesday interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box when asked about Bitcoin’s threat to the national currency.

“Bitcoin is an interesting speculative asset. I don’t think there are a lot of words to say,” the Goldman chief added. “I don’t see Bitcoin as a threat to the US dollar.”

Solomon’s remarks come at a time when the crypto community is eager to see if President Donald Trump will fulfill his promise to establish a national Bitcoin stockpile, a key commitment in his re-election campaign.

When asked whether Goldman Sachs’ approach to crypto assets is going to “fundamentally change” under the Trump administration, Solomon said the bank has already been fundamentally engaged and exploring blockchain technology’s potential applications in finance.

“The underlying technology is something we’ve spent a lot of time on. It’s something that we’re utilizing, testing to create less frictional financial systems,” Solomon said.

The CEO noted regulatory limitations on the bank’s crypto involvement. “At the moment, from the regulatory perspective, we can’t own, we can’t principle, we can’t be involved with Bitcoin,” Solomon said, indicating potential changes if regulations shift.

Speaking at a Reuters Next conference last month, Solomon said that Goldman Sachs’ current ability to participate in spot trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum is limited due to regulatory constraints.

If the regulatory environment evolves, the bank would evaluate the opportunity to engage in market-making for these assets, he said.

Goldman Sachs currently holds $461 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, according to a recent regulatory filing. The bank also maintains stakes in funds managed by Fidelity, Grayscale, Invesco/Galaxy, WisdomTree, and Ark/21Shares.

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SEC Chair Gary Gensler compared Bitcoin to gold in a CNBC “Squawk Box” interview while discussing the digital asset’s speculative nature ahead of his departure from the regulatory agency.

“Bitcoin is a highly speculative, volatile asset,” Gensler said. “But with 7 billion people around the globe wanting to trade it—just like we’ve had gold for 10,000 years—we have Bitcoin. It might be something else in the future as well.”

Gensler, who will step down on January 20 as President-elect Trump takes office, reiterated that Bitcoin is not a security and emphasized that the SEC has never classified it as such.

However, he warned that most tokens besides Bitcoin could be subject to securities laws, requiring proper disclosures to protect investors from fraud and manipulation.

“This field, the crypto field, is highly speculative and has not been compliant with various laws, whether anti-money laundering, sanctions, or securities laws,” Gensler said.

His tenure saw the approval of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, alongside broader financial market reforms including reduced settlement cycles and improved transparency in US Treasury trading.

Gensler’s tenure was marked by strong oversight of the crypto market, often drawing criticism from industry participants who felt the SEC relied heavily on enforcement actions rather than clear regulatory frameworks.

Reflecting on his approach, Gensler emphasized that the agency operated within the laws set by Congress and acted to protect investors.

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