XRP’s recovery above $1.16 this week has coincided with a shift in the token’s supply picture, as large holders move fewer coins onto exchanges while US-listed exchange-traded funds continue to attract fresh capital. The retreat in exchange-bound supply follows weeks of consolidation around $1, when weaker prices and limited spot demand kept XRP from sustaining […]
The post XRP’s $1.16 recovery gets support from whales and a $285 million ETF streak appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Dogecoin usually lives and dies by sentiment, but whale behaviour gives traders something a little more tangible to work with. On-chain data showing large DOGE wallets adding during a correction suggests some bigger hold
Dogecoin usually lives and dies by sentiment, but whale behaviour gives traders something a little more tangible to work with. On-chain data showing large DOGE wallets adding during a correction suggests some bigger hold
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A single whale dump reportedly sent SIREN down 95%, showing the danger of extreme supply concentration in thinly traded tokens.
About 16 million ADA left exchanges for self-custody wallets in a single 24-hour window, according to Coinglass spot flow data — a shift that points to quiet Cardano accumulation while prices remain under pressure. Related Reading: The Bitcoin Rally Has A Problem: Demand Is Drying Up Cardano: Big Move Off Exchanges Coinglass data shows that Cardano spot inflows over that period came in at $30 million, while outflows hit $32.62 million, producing a net exchange flow of -$2.54 million. At ADA’s current price of $0.16, that gap translates to roughly 16 million tokens moving away from exchanges. That exodus from trading platforms follows a separate but related development flagged by market intelligence platform Santiment on June 10. Data from Santiment showed that wallets holding ADA for extended periods had begun moving their coins again after months of relative quiet — a shift captured through two on-chain metrics: Mean Dollar Invested Age and Age Consumed. ✍️ TL;DR: Large dormant Cardano wallets moving, signs of bounces arising ???? Metrics Used: Mean Dollar Invested Age, Age Consumed ???? Link to chart: https://t.co/CIT6gOeNQe ???? Cardano’s on-chain age metrics have started showing unusual behavior the past several days. $ADA’s Mean… pic.twitter.com/ktUy3ncu5E — Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) June 10, 2026 What The Data Actually Shows Mean Dollar Invested Age tracks the average age of capital sitting in ADA wallets. The metric had been climbing steadily since early May, reflecting a prolonged period in which coins were not changing hands. That upward trend stalled for the first time in five weeks during the first week of June. At the same time, Age Consumed — which measures how many tokens were moved and how long they had been sitting idle before moving — registered several sharp spikes between June 4 and June 9. The largest of those came on June 9, making it the biggest such burst since April. When the two readings are taken together, Santiment says they suggest older holders are re-entering the market after a long stretch of inactivity. The platform linked the timing of the activity directly to the recent price slide, noting that the correction appears to have prompted longer-term participants to act. Dormant Holders And What Usually Follows ADA has fallen more than 80% from its cycle high of $1.30, and selling pressure has continued to push prices lower in recent weeks. Historically, sharp rises in Age Consumed alongside a plateauing Mean Dollar Invested Age have tended to appear near turning points in price direction. Related Reading: A 400 Billion Shiba Inu Surprise: Whale Wallet Springs Back To Life Santiment stopped well short of calling a recovery certain. The platform said such conditions could support a price rebound, while also acknowledging that dormant wallet movements do not always signal buying — they can reflect distribution just as easily as repositioning. What sets the current reading apart, according to Santiment, is that the largest spike in months arrived right as prices were hitting new lows. Featured image from Cabo Adventures, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin has climbed above a key price zone that analysts had flagged as a major obstacle — and that move is drawing fresh attention to who actually holds the coin. Related Reading: Swiss Bitcoin Reserve Effort Withdrawn After Resistance From Central Bank Long-Term Holders Absorb More Supply Around 830,000 BTC has left short-term trader wallets in recent months, pushing the share of Bitcoin held by long-term addresses to 78%, up from 74% in the previous cycle. Data from on-chain tracking account Alphractal shows the shift is one of the largest recorded in recent memory. As more supply gets locked away in long-term wallets, the amount available for active trading keeps shrinking. That tightening supply tends to work in favor of prices during periods of steady demand. When fewer coins are circulating, selling pressure during price dips tends to be weaker. Reports indicate that long-term holders have been absorbing supply consistently relative to price movements, which has contributed to thinner liquidity across the market. ????????.????% ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????-???????????????? ????????????????????. ???????? ???????????????? ????????.????%. That 4.2 percentage-point shift = roughly 830,000 BTC migrated from short-term to long-term cohort over the cycle. STH conviction is crumbling, LTH conviction… pic.twitter.com/aL8pTSk3Js — Alphractal (@Alphractal) May 9, 2026 Price Structure Points To A Range With High Stakes Bitcoin recently broke through a resistance zone between $78,000 and $80,000 — a range that had acted as a bearish block. According to an analyst, that zone has now flipped to support, and the next target to the upside sits at $90,000. But the setup carries risk on both sides. If that newly established support level fails to hold, a pullback toward $68,000 — and possibly as low as $60,000 — becomes a real possibility. Reports note that tighter liquidity zones increase the chance of sharp moves at key price levels, making the $78,000 area especially critical for short-term direction. A rejection at $82,000 could also be enough to swing momentum back toward the bears, according to the same analysis. Higher Timeframe Still Shows Caution Zooming out, the picture is less clear. Bitcoin remains in a corrective phase after reaching an all-time high of $120,000, wi th lower highs and lower lows forming despite brief rallies. The price is still trading below resistance at $97,000, a level analysts say would need to be reclaimed to signal a stronger shift in trend. Related Reading: XRP Market Now Controlled By Whales? Dominance Reaches 91% On Binance Two major supply zones between $79,000 and $94,000 continue to sit overhead, acting as a ceiling for the current rally. A support channel has been forming since prices bounced from around $59,000. The data points to a market where long-term conviction is rising but short-term direction remains unsettled. Whether buyers can hold the ground they’ve gained will likely shape the next significant move. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
US spot XRP exchange-traded funds recorded net inflows of $11.28 million on Tuesday, marking their second consecutive positive day — a streak that coincides with a sharp shift in who is actually moving XRP off centralized exchanges. Related Reading: Bitcoin Eyes $90K As Bears Get Burned Again Amid $30B Open Interest Surge Whales Take Over The Outflow Picture Large holders now account for 91.4% of all XRP leaving Binance, according to on-chain data compiled by CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha. Retail traders, by contrast, have been squeezed to just 8.4% of outflow activity on the platform. The gap is striking. And it isn’t limited to Binance — across all centralized exchanges combined, whale-driven outflows have climbed to 90.5%, the highest reading recorded since 2024. Retail participation across those same platforms has slipped to roughly 9%, its lowest point in the same period. The numbers paint a picture of a market where small traders have largely stepped back, leaving the heavy movement to bigger players who rarely show their hand. Exchange Reserves Shrinking Fast Separate data flagged by market watcher Xaif Crypto shows XRP reserves on Binance are falling at a pace not seen since March. Deposit and withdrawal flows over the past 30 days have flipped, with withdrawals outpacing deposits by a growing margin. Something’s happening with XRP on Binance ???? net withdrawals just hit a 30-day reversal coins flying off the exchange at the fastest pace since March ???? the supply shock is loading …….. $XRP https://t.co/VXOQPJf1EX pic.twitter.com/nlJLdUOCA1 — Xaif Crypto (@Xaif_Crypto) May 6, 2026 When tokens leave exchanges at this speed, it typically means fewer coins are available for immediate sale — a condition that can tighten supply and affect pricing if demand stays steady or grows. The ETF inflow data adds weight to that picture. Reports indicate that institutional interest in XRP has been climbing, and two straight days of positive ETF flows suggest that appetite has not cooled. Related Reading: David Schwartz Says Selling XRP Doesn’t Make Him The Villain What The Data Doesn’t Confirm Still, outflows don’t tell the whole story. Data shows that whale withdrawals can reflect several different moves — long-term storage, transfer between wallets, or repositioning across platforms. None of those necessarily means buying. Taha’s analysis acknowledged this directly, noting that exchange outflows alone cannot be treated as confirmation of accumulation. The contrast with mid-2025 is worth keeping in mind. Back then, retail participation spiked to around 2% dominance just as XRP approached its record high near $3.66. That surge in smaller-player activity was followed by a price drop of more than 60%. Today’s market looks structurally different, with large holders driving nearly all movement. Whether that translates into price support remains to be seen. Featured image from MetaAI, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin's rebound is running straight into one of the few events it can't price in advance. After climbing back toward $80,000 on the back of renewed institutional buying and a nine-day ETF inflow streak, BTC pulled back to around $76,500 on Tuesday before recovering early Wednesday to around $77,800 as the Federal Reserve began its […]
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Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, has declined by 0.9% after a trading week with little to no price action. Although the market’s next direction remains largely uncertain, a recent analysis has provided insight into underlying investor activity that would dictate long-term price direction. Related Reading: Bitcoin Funding Rates Stay Negative Despite Price Gains — What This Means Bitcoin Institutional Flows Reveal Strong Accumulation In a recent post on CryptoQuant’s QuickTake, on-chain analyst GugaOnChain highlights a significant capital rotation underway in the Bitcoin market. The metric relevant to this analysis is the Bitcoin: Global Network Accumulation vs. Distribution by All Cohorts (30D), which tracks whether different wallet-size groups are buying or selling Bitcoin over the past 30 days, thereby revealing which cohorts are driving market supply and demand. The analyst points out that mega-whales (holding more than 10,000 BTC) have recently distributed -25.51K BTC. However, the released supply was quickly absorbed by smart money “sharks” (investors with 100-1,000 BTC), who reportedly acquired 37.92K BTC during the same period. The analyst explains that, together with the +9.57K BTC absorbed by the 1K-10K BTC cohort, there is an effect of institutional price shielding currently on display. Related Reading: Peter Brandt Sees Bitcoin Hitting $300,000-$500,000 By Late 2029 Selling Pressure Remains Contained As Market Structure Strengthens Further supporting this narrative, the Exchange Whale Ratio — a metric that assesses the proportion of large transactions flowing into exchanges — currently stands at 61.89%. Yet, Binance data shows zero Bitcoin inflows over 24 hours from the 100- to 10,000-BTC cohorts, suggesting that large holders are not preparing to sell. Meanwhile, Open Interest, a key indicator of participation and positioning across derivatives markets, has surged by about 10.43%, reaching approximately $25.98 billion. On the other hand, Bitcoin reserves held on exchanges have declined by nearly 1% over the past month. According to the analyst, this translates to a retraction of approximately 2.66 million BTC. This means investors are moving assets out of exchanges, a behavior typically seen ahead of long-term holding. When this decline is combined with neutral miner positioning (MPI at -0.50) and a positive Coinbase Premium Gap around 23.84 (which reflects steady US buying interest), it becomes apparent that sustained accumulation is ongoing, however subtle. If this persists, the accumulated supply could overcome the existing sell pressure to sponsor the next Bitcoin rally. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is $77,353. According to CoinMarketCap data, the world’s leading cryptocurrency is down 1.33% over the last 24 hours. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview
The current price range of Bitcoin may not relay much, but a change in ownership structure is taking place under the surface. Related Reading: Forget XRP Forecasts: The ‘Delusional’ Crowd Could Have The Last Laugh On-chain data from CryptoQuant shows that one cohort of market participants is stepping back from exchange activity at a pace not seen in nearly a year, while another is quietly rebuilding at a scale that demands attention. Whale Inflows On Binance Fall To Multi-Month Lows The 30-day sum of whale inflows to Binance has fallen massively in recent days, falling to $2.96 billion as of the latest CryptoQuant data, the first reading below $3 billion since June 2025. The drop in exchange inflow is a departure from the elevated inflow levels that characterized the entire period between February and early March, when the same metric was consistently tracking above $6 billion and briefly touched $8 billion. That detail matters because exchange inflows from whales are an intent to sell or reposition. When these flows begin to dry up, it shows that large players are no longer rushing to offload their supply. BTC- Binance Whale To Exchange Flow At the same time, long-term holders are rebuilding exposure at scale. This exposure can be seen through the 30-day realized cap change for this group. This metric captures the value of coins being absorbed into long-term storage, and its reading reached as high as $49 billion on April 9. That contrast is clearly visible in the behavior of short-term holders, whose realized cap change has dropped to -$54 billion. This is the third time since early March that short-term holders have registered losses exceeding $50 billion on a 30-day basis. This data shows that reactive participants are exiting positions under pressure, while longer-term investors are buying more into that weakness and tightening supply. BTC: STH LTH Net Position Realized Cap The Setup For A Squeeze Is Building Speaking of tightening supply, data from the derivatives market is showing a signal as to how there might be an incoming short squeeze. The impression across derivatives and spot metrics is a market where bearish sentiment has become heavily concentrated in leveraged positions, while physical supply is migrating off crypto exchanges. Funding rates across all major exchanges came in at -0.0118% on April 10 and -0.0101% on April 11, two consecutive sessions of strongly negative readings. Negative funding has become the dominant regime since late March, and throughout April the metric has remained in negative territory without a single positive flip. Bitcoin Funding Rates The negative funding means short positions are paying longs to maintain their bearish exposure, and short positions are becoming overcrowded. At the same time, open interest climbed from around $21.87 billion on April 6 to $24.37 billion by April 10. Rising open interest alongside persistently negative funding is a characteristic signature of leveraged short accumulation. Meanwhile, spot supply continues to tighten up. Many coins are being moved off crypto exchanges, and exchange netflows recorded about 7,900 BTC in outflows over April 9 and 10 combined. Related Reading: XRP Eyes $17 After Massive Breakout—Is A 1,100% Surge Next? Off-exchange, the 30-day change in OTC desk balances has turned negative, which is a sign that institutions or large buyers are absorbing supply outside of visible market infrastructure. Bitcoin Total OTC Desk Balance Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The crypto market’s fear gauge hit 15 — deep inside “Extreme Fear” territory — yet the biggest Bitcoin holders quietly moved in the opposite direction. Related Reading: Strategy’s Bitcoin Bet Now $3.35 Billion In The Red As Saylor Tells Investors To Wait Whale Wallets Grow Their Share Of Total Bitcoin Supply According to crypto analytics platform Santiment, wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC increased their collective share of total supply to 68% last week, up from 68% seven days prior. Whales were not buying blindly. Santiment disclosed the accumulation happened as Bitcoin held steady around $71,000 — a price level that large holders appear to have treated as an entry point worth acting on. While that shift may look small on paper, Santiment flagged it as a meaningful directional change after weeks of selling pressure. Bitcoin was trading around $71,470 at the time of the report, up about 6% over the prior week. Source: Santiment The timing stands out. Just over a week earlier, whale behavior told a very different story. Reports indicate that in the two days leading up to March 6, large wallet holders had offloaded 65% of the Bitcoin they accumulated between February 23 and March 3 — a mass exit that coincided with Bitcoin briefly touching $74,000 before pulling back. A Bottom Signal That Depends On What Retail Does Next Santiment says the renewed accumulation by large holders is encouraging, but the picture isn’t complete yet. What analysts are watching now is whether everyday investors — those with smaller wallets — start trimming their holdings. Data shows that historically, Bitcoin has tended to hit its floor not when big money walks away, but when ordinary buyers give up and sell. “Markets rarely reward the majority consensus immediately,” Santiment said in its weekly report. If retail participation stays elevated or keeps climbing, analysts say that could signal more downside ahead rather than a recovery. That caution is reinforced by on-chain analyst Willy Woo, who recently said Bitcoin remains “solidly in the middle of its bear market” when viewed through a long-range liquidity lens — a read that cuts against any near-term optimism. Related Reading: Bitcoin Climbs Back To $73,000 As Short Squeeze Wipes Out $246M In Futures Bets ETF Inflows Offer A Counterpoint To Bearish Sentiment Not everything in the market is pointing down. US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted their first five-day inflow streak of 2026, pulling in roughly $767 million across the week. That kind of sustained institutional interest is harder to dismiss, and it adds a layer of complexity to what is otherwise a cloudy short-term outlook. Whether whale accumulation marks the start of a sustained recovery or just a brief pause in a longer slide will likely depend on how retail investors behave in the days ahead. Santiment says it wants to see small wallet holdings decline while large wallet positions continue rising — the classic pattern of coins moving from uncertain hands into more committed ones. For now, that shift has started. Whether it holds is another question. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView
Spot Bitcoin ETFs listed in the US recorded their steepest single-day outflow in nearly three weeks on Friday, with $349 million pulled from all 11 products combined, according to data from Farside. Related Reading: Stablecoin Market Breaks Records — USDC Controls 70% Of $1.8 Trillion Volume The withdrawals came as Bitcoin slid back toward $68,000 after briefly touching $74,000 earlier in the week — a run-up that, based on on-chain data, appears to have been the trigger for a significant wave of selling by large holders. Big Holders Bought Low, Then Sold Fast Crypto analytics platform Santiment tracked the behavior of wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 Bitcoin — a group commonly referred to as whales — and found they had been building positions aggressively between Feb. 23 and March 3, when prices were stuck in the $62,900 to $69,600 range. Once Bitcoin crossed $74,000 on Wednesday, those same wallets began offloading. By Friday, roughly 66% of what they had accumulated over that 10-day window had been sold back into the market. Smaller investors moved in the opposite direction. Wallets holding less than 0.01 Bitcoin — the retail end of the market — have been adding to their positions as prices fell. According to Santiment, that kind of divergence between large and small holders has historically pointed to more downside ahead. “When retail buys while whales sell, it typically signals that the correction is not yet over,” the platform said in a Friday report. Fear Gauge Drops To Its Lowest Reading In Weeks Bitcoin’s slide pushed the Crypto Fear & Greed Index down six points to a score of 12 on Saturday, placing it deep in “Extreme Fear” territory. The index measures market sentiment across a range of factors including volatility, trading volume, and social media activity. Some analysts said that Bitcoin could still face another drop if buyers fail to defend the current price zone. A loss of support around the $67,000–$68,000 range may trigger a move back toward recent lows to gather liquidity before any potential rebound. An Economist’s Case For A $60K Floor Not everyone sees a breakdown coming. Economist Timothy Peterson pointed to the Bitcoin Price to Metcalfe Value chart — a model that measures Bitcoin’s price against the estimated value of its network based on user activity — and said the $60,000 level has held as a bottom in every prior cycle. “About 99.5% chance it stays above $60k,” Peterson wrote on X. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Brief Rally Isn’t The End Of The Bear Market, Analysts Say Bitcoin had already tested that level once this cycle, falling to $60,000 on Feb. 6 during a broader pullback from an all-time high of $126,000 set in October. Since then, it has managed a partial recovery, though Friday’s ETF outflows and the continued whale selling suggest the market has not yet found stable footing. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView
Analysts warn the bitcoin market is vulnerable to a deeper flush amid ETF outflows, miner selling and macro shocks.
A fresh whale on the XRP ledger moved a large chunk of tokens in a very short time, and traders are split on what it means. According to on-chain records, a newly activated address received two equal transfers that together totaled $120 million XRP. The transfers came through an intermediary wallet that shuffled the coins across multiple quick moves. Related Reading: Crypto Funds Bleed $1.80 Billion As Metals Rally Heats Up Whale Activity And The Flow Of Funds Reports say the incoming batches were two transfers of $60 million XRP each. The intermediary took each batch and pushed them onward to a holding address within the hour. That receiving account now shows a balance of $185 million XRP after adding a leftover $35 million it already held. Exchange tags are absent. No known custodial label appears next to these addresses. That makes the trail harder to read. Why The Moves Could Be Routine Large holders move funds for many reasons. Custodians tidy up wallets. Exchanges consolidate holdings. Firms rotate funds locked in cold storage for operational reasons. Those are common explanations. Active traders watched the price around the same time. Reports note XRP had slid to the low $1.70 range, breaking below the $1.80 support and slipping about 10% since Jan. 29. Signals Traders Want To See If this were a quiet buy-the-dip, market signs would usually show up. Price stabilization or an uptick might follow. Spot volume could climb. Net outflows from exchange wallets might be visible. None of those clear, matching clues appeared right away. Instead, the funds sat put. That raises the chance this was internal reshuffling rather than aggressive accumulation. Related Reading: Ethereum Boost: Vitalik Buterin Sets Aside $45M In ETH For Privacy And Open Tech What The Intermediary Pattern Suggests Routing through a central wallet is common. Some teams prefer to funnel receipts into a single address for accounting or security checks before dispersing them. The pace of transfers can look dramatic on a block explorer. But drama does not equate to new money entering the market. Without evidence that the source funds came from outside exchanges, or that they were purchased on the open market, the move should be treated as ambiguous. Reports have disclosed similar on-chain activity in past months that later turned out to be either coordinated buying or routine housekeeping. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Whale-sized Bitcoin holders are piling up more coins even as prices wobble. According to blockchain tracker Santiment, wallets holding at least 1,000 BTC added 104,340 BTC in recent weeks. Related Reading: Gold Becomes The Whale Safe Haven As Bitcoin Takes A Back Seat Reports note that total supply held by these large wallets hit 7.17 million BTC, the highest level since September 15, 2025. Mid-sized holders joined in too, adding roughly $3.21 billion worth of Bitcoin between January 10 and January 19. Small retail wallets moved the other way, offloading about 132 BTC, worth around $11.66 million. Whales Push Their Stakes Higher The numbers point to patient buying by big players. Large transfers of $1 million or more have climbed to a two-month high, which suggests heavy participants are active on the network again. According to Santiment, this kind of flow is often tied to institutions and wealthy investors moving coins between custody, exchanges, and private wallets. Some of those moves are driven by strategic choices; some are meant to secure holdings. Either way, a growing pile in whale hands changes where supply sits. Smaller holders are stepping back, while the so-called smart money increases exposure. Reports say mid-sized wallets — those holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC — were net buyers in the same stretch. ???? Large Bitcoin whales are accumulating at an encouraging pace, wallets with at least 1K $BTC have collectively accumulated 104,340 more coins (a +1.5% rise). Additionally, the amount of $1M+ daily transfers is back up to 2-month high levels. ???? Chart: https://t.co/CJOfiOBbWU pic.twitter.com/4loxDFtUdb — Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 25, 2026 Price Action And Market Signals Bitcoin’s price has not matched the upbeat on-chain action. Trading was around $87,730 at one point, with intraday swings between $86,500 and $87,500. The alpha crypto asset was down about 0.5% over 24 hours and roughly 5.4% over the prior week. Volumes have ticked up, though, which makes the case that some investors are stepping in at these levels. The picture is mixed: on-chain accumulation suggests a base is being formed, but macro headlines keep the market on edge. On-Chain Strength Versus Headlines A growing stash by big holders can support a future rally if external stress eases. Yet prices move on more than Bitcoin flows. Large transfers and rising accumulation mean demand exists under the surface, but that demand has yet to fully push the market higher. Macro Risks And Market Jitters Geopolitical worries are casting a long shadow. Reports say US President Donald Trump has moved warships toward areas of tension, and prediction markets show a significant chance that the US could strike Iran by June. Trade friction with Canada over recent auto rules has raised fresh political noise, and Polymarket shows the probability of a US government shutdown above 70%. These are real risks that can lift oil, rattle markets, and sap appetite for risk assets. Related Reading: Money Keeps Leaving: Bitcoin ETFs Shed $1.72 Billion In Just 5 Sessions Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
According to on-chain trackers, a big wave of old Bitcoin has started moving after long dormancy. Coins that sat untouched for more than two years have been transferred in numbers larger than what was seen during past peaks in 2017 and 2021. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Sharp Reversal Leaves Over $800 Million Liquidated In 1 Day CryptoQuant analyst Kripto Mevsimi said on-chain data shows that 2024 and 2025 marked the largest release of long-held Bitcoin supply ever recorded. He tracks “revived supply,” or coins that stayed dormant for more than two years before being moved. That kind of movement usually means deep-pocketed holders are changing their plans, not small traders chasing a quick gain. A Shift Without A Party Reports say this release of long-held supply arrived with little fanfare. There was no mass retail mania. Prices did not spike in a frenzy. Instead, the transfers came during a stretch when the market has been under steady pressure from broader financial stress. Some of those older coins were likely sold for profit. Some may have been moved for other reasons — custody upgrades, private trades, or to back financial products. On-chain signals show the coins moved, but they do not write the reasons on the blockchain. Long-Term Holders Change Course Based on reports from analysts tracking these flows, the pattern suggests a changing of the guard. Early adopters who held through multiple cycles and pointed to scarcity and self-control have been trimming positions. New buyers are appearing who watch price swings and macro headlines. Institutions, fresh large accounts, and price-driven traders are now shaping much of the market’s short-term activity. Global Risk Pressures Risk Assets Reports have linked recent weakness in Bitcoin to rising global risk. Research ties part of the pullback to tariff moves by US President Donald Trump, which have pushed investors away from risky assets. Tariffs can dent corporate profits, stir up inflation uncertainty, and change how the market views future rates — all of which hits sentiment. When big markets wobble, crypto often follows. That pressure helps explain why long-held coins moved without the usual hype. New Buyers Step Forward According To on-chain and price data, institutions and new “whales” are stepping into the gaps left by sellers. Bitcoin has been trading near the high $80k range, with recent figures around $89,140 as markets test demand. The old holders may have taken gains, but the market did not collapse. That shows there is still appetite, even if it is different from the past. Related Reading: Bitcoin Influencers Get Spotlight In X’s New ‘Starterpacks’ This cycle feels different because selling came without euphoria, and buying looks more tactical. That does not mean the story is over. The market might be shifting toward price-sensitive participants and outside financial forces. Or the recent calm could be a pause before fresh buying. Either way, these on-chain moves matter. They change where the coins sit, and that changes how future price swings may play out. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
According to TradingView data, big holders on Bitfinex have been trimming long positions after a late-December peak of 73,000 BTC. The move follows a broader drop in whale holdings of roughly 220,000 BTC during 2025, a change that has analysts and traders parsing what comes next. Related Reading: Crypto Market Watches As Clarity Act Enters Senate Debate Next Week: US Senator Price action has been steady. Bitcoin has been moving inside a tight range around $88,000 to $92,000 while the market seeks direction. Whale Moves And Historical Patterns Based on reports, some traders see this as a classic unwind pattern that precedes price gains. In early 2025, a similar fall in long positions coincided with Bitcoin slipping under $74k then staging a sharp rebound. That past recovery climbed to about $112k in 43 days after positions were flushed. MartyParty, a commentator on X, pointed to that episode when noting Bitfinex whales were “aggressively closing $BTC longs,” a behavior that has in the past been followed by big swings. Bitfinex whales are aggressively closing $BTC longs, a signal that historically precedes massive volatility. Last time this “unwind” happened in early 2025, Bitcoin was stalling at $74k. This precedes the Wyckoff Spring. See charts below. The flush cleared leverage and ignited… pic.twitter.com/2qfmH2eliJ — MartyParty (@martypartymusic) January 10, 2026 Market Breadth And Investor Mix Reports have disclosed that on-chain tracker CryptoQuant finds overall whale holdings fell by over 200,000 BTC across the year, while smaller investors have increased exposure. This shift is being read by some as a sign that ownership is broadening. If more participants hold coins, price moves can be supported by a wider base of buyers. That does not guarantee higher prices, but it does change the way risk spreads through the market. Price Range And Resistance Levels Traders are watching a near-term ceiling around $94,000 that has capped several rallies. Bitcoin currently sits near $91.5k. A sustained break above that $94,000 level with volume would be a stronger confirmation for bulls. On the flip side, a failure to move higher could see the range widen to the downside, especially if funding costs rise or if liquidations pick up. Fractal Targets And Caution Some analysts are using past patterns to project targets. Based on reports, one scenario maps a repeat of the spring-and-rally sequence, aiming at $135k or more if history repeats closely enough. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Next Peak Might Ignite ADA’s Rally, Says Cardano Creator That view depends on similar market conditions lining up, which is not certain. Whales are not a single, unified actor; different groups can close positions for different reasons, and some trades are used as hedges rather than bets on price direction. Volume, funding rates, and net positioning on major derivatives platforms will matter. A clean breakout above $94,000 with rising spot demand would support the bullish case. Conversely, rising selling pressure at that level could keep Bitcoin confined to the $88,000–$92,000 band until a new catalyst appears. The current action looks like a setup in progress — one that could lead to sharp moves once traders decide on direction. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin moved higher on renewed buying from large holders while smaller wallets were seen booking gains, a pattern that on-chain watchers view as supportive for further upside. Related Reading: Bitcoin Wealth Isn’t About Hype—It’s About Time And Stacking, Expert Says Whale Accumulation And Retail Profit-Taking According to Santiment, wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC — described as whales and sharks — have added 56,227 BTC since mid-December. At the same time, wallets with less than 0.01 BTC have been taking profits, suggesting some retail traders expect a bull trap or a fool’s rally. This split — heavy accumulation by large holders while small accounts sell — raises the odds of market cap growth across crypto. Supply Redistribution And Market Structure Market observers say supply is shifting in a way that helps price action. Analyst James Check pointed out that the top-heavy supply share has fallen from 67% to 47%, a large move in a short span. ???? Crypto markets typically follow the path of key whale & shark stakeholders, and move the opposite direction of small retail wallets. In our chart below: ???? Whales dumping, Retail accumulating (VERY BEARISH) ???? Whales dumping, Retail unpredictable (BEARISH) ???? Whales & Retail… pic.twitter.com/yoC0H1keBT — Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 5, 2026 That shift, paired with a drop in profit-taking and signs of a short-squeeze in futures, has supported higher prices even as overall leverage stayed low. Bitcoin has been mostly rangebound between roughly $87,000 and $94,000 for about six weeks, but it briefly reached a seven-week high of $94,800 on Coinbase during late trading on Monday. Options And Key Levels Traders watching option interest see heavy call activity around the $100,000 strike for January expiry. Data shows Bitcoin as being in a bullish consolidation phase, with immediate resistance seen at $95,000 to $100,000 and support placed near $88,000 to $90,000. A clean break above the upper zone could push prices higher, while a breach below the lower zone might invite deeper selling pressure. Geopolitical Shock And Trading Volume Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by US forces, Bitcoin moved to multi-week highs and traded above key levels near $93,000 on Monday, based on reports. Analysts tied the move partly to geopolitical uncertainty pushing some investors toward alternative assets. Speculation about Venezuela’s alleged large BTC holdings — reportedly hundreds of thousands of coins — also added to market chatter and trade activity. Overall, the event coincided with higher volatility and volume, reflecting broad market reactions to global tension rather than serving as a direct driver of Bitcoin’s fundamental value. Related Reading: A Maduro Bet, A Market Alarm: US Lawmaker Targets Trading Abuses What This Means For Traders The current mix of big-wallet buying and retail profit-taking gives the market a tilted bias. If accumulation by whales continues, the chance of an upward breakout rises. Yet the retail sell-off warns that short-term reversals remain possible. The $95,000 to $100,000 range appears to be a key area for a potential breakout, while support around $88,000 to $90,000 could influence sentiment if prices fall below it. Reports and on-chain data suggest momentum leans toward further gains, though the market may remain volatile as traders respond to both technical levels and geopolitical developments. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Large crypto holders moved about $2.4 billion in Bitcoin and Ether to Binance in the past week, a flow split almost evenly between the two tokens. According to CryptoOnchain, the size of individual deposits has jumped — average transfers onto the exchange rose from around eight to 10 Bitcoin to highs near 22 to 26 Bitcoin. Related Reading: $18 Million Ethereum Loss Sends Whale Running To Gold At the same time, withdrawals have shrunk, with the Exchange Outflow Mean reported between 5.5 and 8.3 Bitcoin. That change in behavior signals a shift away from taking coins into long-term storage and toward holding tradable balances on-platform. Rising Deposit Sizes And Flat Stablecoin Flows Based on reports, the move onto Binance did not arrive with fresh buying power. Stablecoin net flows were essentially flat, showing an inflow of $42 million for the week, a figure that analysts say mostly reflected token transfers between Ethereum and Tron rather than new capital entering crypto. CryptoOnchain said that such large transfers to exchanges can mean preparation for selling or the use of assets as collateral in derivatives markets. In plain terms: more supply is ready to hit the market, while obvious signs of new demand are missing. Market Action Tested By Geopolitics Bitcoin traded around $92,620 after earlier hitting a 24-hour peak of $93,180, and it was reported to have climbed to a three-week high of $93,340 in early Asian trading. The price moves came as political tension rose following the US military’s action on Venezuela that resulted in the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, gold climbed above $4,400 an ounce, and silver jumped as much as 4.8%. According to FalconX, the recent Bitcoin uptick was driven in part by crypto-focused firms and by limited selling from miners and big holders. Selling Pressure Versus Thin Demand Analysts are watching the mismatch. Large deposits and a fall in the average size of withdrawals suggest that major holders are less willing to lock up Bitcoin in cold storage. Reports say accumulation has stalled since October. That combination creates a scenario where price rallies are more likely to be met by selling from holders who have quietly moved assets onto exchanges. Related Reading: A Maduro Bet, A Market Alarm: US Lawmaker Targets Trading Abuses Outlook: Cautious, Not Catastrophic Based on these signals, the risk of downward pressure has risen but a major crash is not guaranteed. Price strength right now appears tied to headlines and cross-market moves as much as to fresh crypto demand. Traders and investors will be watching whether stablecoin inflows pick up or whether whales actually press sell. US President Donald Trump’s previously cited pro-crypto stance was not enough to reverse the accumulation lull by year-end, and until buyers return in force, gains may be limited and short lived. Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView
According to onchain data from CryptoQuant, claims that big holders are massively reaccumulating Bitcoin are exaggerated. The numbers that many share on social media can be distorted by exchange moves, not fresh buying. That distortion matters because large transfers tied to exchanges can look like one entity is piling in, when the action is often internal bookkeeping. Related Reading: Crypto Exchange Korbit Fined $1.90 Million By South Korean Regulators Whale Wallet Totals Can Be Misleading Exchange firms often merge funds from many small accounts into fewer large wallets for operational or compliance reasons. When that happens, onchain trackers may count those consolidated addresses as “whales,” inflating the apparent number of very large holders. According to Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, once those exchange-related shifts are removed from the data, the balance held by true large holders is still falling. Balances in addresses holding between 100 to 1,000 BTC have dropped, a trend that lines up with outflows from spot ETFs. No, whales are not buying enormous amount of Bitcoin. Most Bitcoin whale data out there has been “affected” by exchanges consolidating a lot of their holdings into fewer addresses with larger balances, this is why whales seem to have accumulated a lot of coins recently. We… pic.twitter.com/dk9XqqckIX — Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) January 2, 2026 Long-Term Holders Turning Buyer Reports have disclosed that another group has shifted its behavior. Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, says long-term holders have been net accumulators over the past 30 days after what was their biggest selling spree since 2019. That change could reduce one major source of selling pressure. It does not guarantee a rally, but it does mean at least one key cohort stopped adding to the sell side. Markets react to who is buying and who is selling, and this move by long-term holders softens the case that a single group is driving prices lower. Price Action Shows Mixed Signals Bitcoin has been hovering around the $90,000 area during thin holiday trading. At the time of reporting, the price was about $89,750 Saturday, with 24-hour volume near $52 billion. The token sits roughly 2.8% below a recent day high of $90,250 and carries a market capitalization of about $1.75 trillion based on a circulating supply close to 20 million BTC. Trading has seen sharp moves up and down, but volume has been weak, which means moves lack the support needed for a clear breakout or breakdown. Market Moves Hinge On ETF Flows Since US spot Bitcoin ETFs became active in early 2024, the ownership picture has changed. ETFs now hold a large share of on- and off-chain demand, which can shift where Bitcoin is stored and how flows appear on onchain charts. Reports suggest that ETF outflows have helped drive lower balances in the 100–1,000 BTC band, while at the same time some long-term holders are quietly buying. Related Reading: Bitcoin Dominance Grows As Altcoins Post Another Losing Year: Analyst What This Means For Investors Taken together, the evidence points to consolidation more than a new bull run or a major crash. Claims of a massive whale reaccumulation wave were overblown because they did not account for exchange consolidation. Yet the story is not one-sided. Long-term holders have shown buying interest, even as large non-exchange addresses continue to shed some holdings. Future price direction will likely depend on whether ETF flows return in size and whether trading volume picks up enough to confirm any move. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
According to onchain data, Bitcoin may be moving into a different phase of market participation rather than simply hitting a classic cycle top or bottom. Related Reading: Bitcoin Feels The Weight Of Quantum Risk Concerns, Industry Leaders Warn New, large entrants are paying higher prices and holding on, and that change is reshaping where the network’s cost base sits. This is not just a short blip; the pattern has several clear data points behind it. New Whales Rewrite The Network Cost Base According to CryptoQuant figures, addresses classified as new whales now account for almost 50% of Bitcoin’s realized cap. Before 2025, that share rarely rose above 22%. Realized cap tracks the value of BTC at the price each coin last moved, so this shift shows where capital entered the system, not just who currently holds the most coins. Reports say the realized cap share from new whales continued to climb even during pullbacks, which suggests the network’s aggregate cost basis is being re-anchored at higher levels. Short-Term Demand Surges As Larger Players Buy Dips Short-term holder supply expanded by roughly 100,000 BTC over a 30-day span, reaching an all-time high, according to analysts. That jump in STH supply points to intense demand at the near-term level. Based on exchange flows, about 37% of BTC sent to Binance came from whale-size wallets, defined in the data set as holdings between 1,000–10,000 BTC. Reports from Hyblock show the cumulative volume delta for whale wallets — those in the $100,000–$10 million range — posted a positive $135 million delta this week. In contrast, retail wallets ($0–$10,000) and mid-size traders ($10,000–$100,000) logged negative deltas of $84 million and $172 million, respectively. In short: larger players absorbed selling pressure while smaller holders reduced their exposure. Related Reading: XRP ETFs Grow Past $60M As Price Struggles To Respond Derivatives Point To Short-Term Risk Price action was sharp. Bitcoin rose to $88,000 from $85,100 in about five hours after the Bank of Japan raised rates, a move that many investors had tracked as a potential macro trigger. Open interest climbed faster than the price, and funding rates turned positive, which indicates fresh margin-driven long positions were being added rather than a simple cover of shorts. That kind of flows pattern raises the chance of volatile reversals if sentiment shifts, even when spot demand looks healthy. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
A statistical mirage briefly convinced the crypto market this week that mid-sized whales had purchased roughly $5 billion of Bitcoin. During the past week, social media feeds filled with charts showing that roughly 54,000 Bitcoins are flooding into “shark” wallets, which are addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 coins. As a result, many industry players […]
The post Bitcoin’s viral $5 billion whale buy signal was actually a dangerous trap set by institutional accounting appeared first on CryptoSlate.
According to exchange data, inflows to trading venues topped 9,000 Bitcoin on Nov. 21 as prices slid to $80,600 on Coinbase — the weakest showing in seven months. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces More Downside After Recent Crash, Data Shows Reports show that about 45% of those deposits came in chunks of 100 BTC or more, and on one day large transfers reached 7,000 BTC. The average deposit size in November rose to 1.23 BTC, the largest monthly figure in a year. Those numbers point to more than casual rebalancing; they point to coins being moved where they can be sold. Binance Stablecoins Hit Record According to market coverage, Binance’s stablecoin holdings climbed to a record $51 billion. At the same time, BTC and Ether inflows to exchanges swelled to roughly $40 billion this week, with Binance and Coinbase leading the move. Traders often park funds in dollar-pegged tokens when they want to wait on the sidelines. That build-up means cash is available, but it is sitting idle until sellers either step back or buyers turn up again. Bitcoin exchange inflows are rising as the price drops to ~87K, a seven-month low. Large deposits (100+ BTC) now make up 45% of all inflows, hitting 7K BTC on Nov 21. Large holders are increasingly sending BTC to exchanges, reinforcing the current downtrend. pic.twitter.com/UpN4rAL0FH — CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) November 26, 2025 Analysts Eye Further Pullback Some market watchers warn the recent recovery could be only a pause, flagging remaining margin positions and suggested a test of lower levels. They said a wick into the $70k–$80k zone would be one way to clear out the last pockets of exposure. 10x Research put resistance levels at $92,000 and $101,000 as the key ranges to watch during any rebound. For context, Bitcoin had clawed back above $90,000 and was trading slightly higher at the time of reporting, but it remains down about 28% from the all-time high north of $126,000 reached in October. Short-Term Bounce, Not A Full Recovery Meanwhile, market moves in stocks and crypto have shown mixed signals. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were pushing gains as investors bet on a US Fed rate cut, and that helped risk assets. Yet reports from strategists show the usual close link between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq has weakened, with Bitcoin’s decline steeper in recent weeks. Ether and many altcoins also faced higher exchange inflows, and several tokens returned to bear-market lows as selling pressure widened. Related Reading: Bitcoin Whale Reenters ETH Market, Fires Off A $44-M Long What This Means Next Liquidity is present but it is parked in stablecoins, and big holders are still moving assets toward exchanges. A meaningful rally will likely need either heavy buying demand or a clear catalyst that draws those stablecoins back into risk assets. For now, the market sits in a waiting mode: a short rally could continue, but a deeper dip remains possible as positions get cleared and sellers complete their rotations. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin suffered a sudden and deep drop in November, losing nearly a quarter of its value and wiping out over $1 trillion across the crypto market. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Sudden Volatility Jump Signals Options Could Be Calling The Shots—Analyst Whales Trim Positions Before Crash According to on-chain data from CryptoQuant, large holders played a central role. Wallets holding between 1,000–10,000 BTC pared back their stakes in the weeks leading up to the fall. Those big sellers took profits after the October rally, and in many cases selling was steady rather than panicked. When large players step back like that, market depth can vanish quickly. A quick overview of Bitcoin’s price decline shows prices slid from record highs above $126,000 in October to roughly $81,000 at the lowest point, before a partial bounce to $87k was recorded. Traders and funds were caught off guard by the speed of the move. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $87,086, up 1.5% in the last 24 hours. Retail Selling Added To Pressure Based on reports, small wallets also leaned toward safety. Holders under 10 BTC and groups up to 1,000 BTC reduced positions, removing another layer of potential buyers. Has Bitcoin Found Its Bottom? Cohorts Tell the Whole Story “BTC may have formed a local bottom, supported by a strong rebound and accumulation from: 100–1k BTC holders. >10k BTC holders. However, the crucial 1k–10k BTC cohort is still distributing, preventing a full… pic.twitter.com/dGU4CBD1Bw — CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) November 25, 2025 Buying interest from casual investors was weaker than expected. Mid-sized holders — those with 10–100 and 100–1,000 BTC — did buy during the correction, and their activity helped slow the slide. Still, their buying power was not enough to match the large outflows. Futures Liquidations Intensified The Drop Reports show that futures market dynamics turned a correction into a crash. Over a 13-day stretch, long positions were forcefully closed out. That cascade removed bids and created a chain reaction of selling that pushed Bitcoin from around $105K down to $81K. Liquidations were heavy, and the selling pressure was compounded as each forced sale fed into the next. A Tentative Rebound Shows Life After the lows were hit, Bitcoin climbed back to about $87,500. This rebound has been taken by some as a sign that a local bottom might be forming. According to CryptoQuant, however, the recovery cannot be considered secure while the 1,000–10,000 BTC group keeps reducing holdings. The market’s health was being tested by who chose to sell and who chose to buy. Bottom Status Hinges On Whale Activity Market watchers say a true reversal needs selling from large wallets to stop. If those whales pause, mid-sized buyers might build a firmer floor and confidence could return. If selling continues, lower levels may be explored once again. The coming sessions will be watched closely by traders who want to see whether large holders change course or keep cashing out. Related Reading: Bitcoin Creator Somehow Becomes ‘Poor’ By Losing $41 Billion Without Saying A Word For now, the situation is simple and tense at the same time: prices have recovered slightly, but the structural weakness that allowed a 25% fall was exposed. Bitcoin could face further losses after its recent crash, if CryptoQuant’s data is anything to go by. Large holders have been taking profits, while retail investors have also been selling, leaving fewer buyers to support the market. Analysts say the next move will depend on whether these big holders continue selling or if mid-sized buyers step in to stabilize prices. Featured image from Vecteezy, chart from TradingView
According to Versan Aljarrah, founder of Black Swan Capitalist, fear has crept back into the XRP market as the token trades under pressure. Prices slipped below the $2 mark and recently hit about $1.83 before a small rebound. Volatility has been sharp, and many traders are being pushed into quick exits. Related Reading: Bitcoin Creator Somehow Becomes ‘Poor’ By Losing $41 Billion Without Saying A Word Volatility Tests Investors Based on reports, XRP’s slide accelerated after a broad market crash in early October tied to tariff tensions between the US and China. That turmoil forced billions of dollars of liquidations across exchanges. Different platforms briefly showed very different lows — Kraken recorded $1.40 while Binance charts on TradingView showed a flash low at $0.76. Fear is back, and it always hits those who don’t understand what it means to hold XRP. Most won’t survive the engineered volatility ahead. The system shakes out the weak long before real valuation even begins. — Black Swan Capitalist (@VersanAljarrah) November 23, 2025 Those swings left behind gaps in liquidity, including a zone around $1.98 to $1.99 that traders are watching closely. Price action has been messy but not one-directional. XRP was trading around $2.22, up about 1.8% in the last 24 hours, and in another snapshot it was reported changing hands close to $2.24 amid a rebound. Over the most recent 72 hours, the token posted a rally of more than 18%, showing how fast sentiment can flip. According to Aljarrah, fear has returned, and “it always hits those who don’t understand what it means to hold XRP.” The analyst pointed out that a good number of people will fall before they could even make it and “survive the engineered volatility ahead.” The system, he said, “shakes out the weak” long before actual market valuation takes its course. History And Psychology At Work Analysts and market observers point to XRP’s stop-and-go history as part of the problem. In 2017, the coin lingered for months before surging roughly 70,000% and then dropping by as much as 95% at certain stretches. In 2024, it traded quietly for much of the year before jumping over 600% near year end. That pattern makes holding the token psychologically hard for many. People sell too soon, often right before big moves. Support levels are being watched closely. Reports list key buffers at $1.95, $1.75, and $1.60. On the upside, some analysts are projecting a rebound to $4 by 2026, with longer-range targets of $13 and $27. Those are forecasts, not promises, and they assume steady market conditions and continued interest. While $XRP jumped 17% in the last 72 hours, whales used the move to lock in profits, selling more than 180 million tokens. pic.twitter.com/t9aKQqTwQN — Ali (@ali_charts) November 25, 2025 Whales Take Profit Amid Rally And ETF Flows Meanwhile, analyst Ali Martinez said larger holders have been taking profits during the rebound. Whales holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP reportedly sold over 180 million tokens, trimming their balances to about 4.74 billion XRP. That kind of selling can add pressure even while the price is trying to recover. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Sudden Volatility Jump Signals Options Could Be Calling The Shots—Analyst Institutional flows appear to be a counterweight. Based on reports, the Franklin Templeton and Grayscale XRP ETFs launched in the US yesterday and drew combined positive flows of $130 million on their first day. Net inflows into US XRP ETFs on Monday were placed at $164 million, a figure that helped absorb some of the selling and supported a more than 7% gain over 24 hours in some trading windows. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin has tumbled more than 30% from its all-time high of $126k and is trading around $85,500 after briefly falling to $82K, according to market reports. Traders warn that recent moves by long-term holders are changing how the market reacts to stress. Liquidity has thinned, and that makes price swings larger than usual. Related Reading: Dogecoin Goes Wall Street: Grayscale Confirms Nov. 24 ETF Launch Schiff Issues A Stark Warning According to gold investor Peter Schiff, Bitcoin is “finally having its IPO moment.” He said that when veteran holders turn into sellers, supply at the top of the market rises and future selloffs can become deeper. “This much Bitcoin moving from strong to weak hands not only increases the float, but also means future selloffs will be bigger,” Schiff said on Saturday. His view has been repeated by bearish voices for years, but this time the comment lands against clear on-chain moves and big ETF outflows. Traders note that when confident, long-term holders prune positions near local peaks; when many do it at once, price action often becomes more violent. Some argue that after all these years Bitcoin is finally having its IPO moment now that there’s enough liquidity for the OGs to cash out. I agree, but this much Bitcoin moving from strong to weak hands not only increases the float, but also means future selloffs will be bigger. — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) November 22, 2025 Whale Moves And Major Sales Based on reports, whales and early wallets moved over 400,000 BTC in October, activity linked with large selling pressure. One early investor, Owen Gunden, reportedly liquidated his entire 11,000 BTC stake across October and November. High-profile retail figures also sold: Robert Kiyosaki announced a sale worth roughly $2.25 million, saying he bought when BTC was about $6,000 and sold near $90,000, and that he plans to redeploy proceeds into income businesses. Analysts at Bitfinex point to two key drivers of the recent drop: long-term holder sales and leveraged liquidations in derivatives markets. When margin positions unwind, prices can cascade lower before the market finds support. ETF Flows And Retail Sentiment According to Bloomberg and fund filings, investors pulled nearly $1 billion from Bitcoin ETFs in a single session, the second-largest daily outflow among the group of 12 funds. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $355 million, while Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity’s FBTC each saw about $200 million leave. Over the past month, ETF products have recorded roughly $4 billion in net outflows. Citi Research figures cited by market watchers place every $1 billion withdrawn at roughly a 3.4% negative swing in Bitcoin’s price. Still, there was a counter-move: reports show ETFs posted $238 million of inflows yesterday, underlining how flows can reverse quickly. Related Reading: Kiyosaki Dumps Bitcoin At $90K After Predicting A $250K Moonshot – Here’s Why Schiff’s warning shows that Bitcoin can still be shaken when big holders sell. Even with some institutions buying, moving coins from long-term owners to casual investors could make future price drops bigger and faster. People watching the market will likely pay close attention to what these veteran holders do, because their actions could decide how steep the next crash might be. Featured image from Born Free Foundation, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin fell below $90,000 this week for the first time in seven months, and big transfers have surged. Related Reading: XRP Supply Shock Ahead? ETFs Could Consume It All, Analyst Predicts According to Santiment, more than 102,000 transactions above $100,000 and roughly 29,000 transactions above $1 million were recorded over the recent stretch — a level that could make this the most active whale week of 2025. Whale Counts Climb As Small Holders Fall Back Based on Glassnode figures, the number of addresses holding at least 1,000 BTC rose to 1,384 from 1,354 about three weeks earlier, a 2.2% rise and the highest count in four months. At the same time, wallets with one BTC or less slipped to about 977,420 from 980,577 late in October, showing smaller holders are thinning out. Those two trends together have some market watchers reading a shift from panic selling toward larger buyers taking positions. ???? Bitcoin’s whales have gotten more and more active as prices have dumped over the past six weeks. So far this week, we have seen: ???? Over 102.9K Whale Transactions exceeding $100K ???? Over 29K Whale Transactions exceeding $1M ???? This week has a good chance of ending up as the… pic.twitter.com/oHsnMfEjgP — Santiment (@santimentfeed) November 19, 2025 Traders And Analysts See Two Things At Once Some traders argue the big transfers are plain buying. Others say the pattern looks like forced selling by leveraged accounts, followed by accumulation as the market finds a new base. One on-chain observer flagged repeated, time-bound selling that could be tied to liquidation events, a pattern that might end once available supply dries up or liquidations stop. Market Sentiment Has Turned Very Negative Sentiment gauges show fear is strong. Reports put the Crypto Fear & Greed Index near 11, a reading inside the “extreme fear” zone, and on-chain short-term holder measures have weakened, with the STH Realized Profit-Loss Ratio dipping below levels often seen around local lows. Taken together, those readings suggest many recent buyers are underwater and that capitulation has been intense. If large transfers recorded by Santiment were mostly outbound from exchanges, that would look like accumulation into cold storage or OTC custody and could reduce sell pressure. If those moves were inbound to exchange wallets, the same flows could point to distribution. Right now, the data show a mixture: big holders are increasing their counts while weaker hands exit, which can support a stabilizing bottom, but it also leaves room for short-term swings if another forced seller appears. Related Reading: With 42% Of XRP Holders Underwater, Analysts Say The Altcoin Could Crash Even Further Several market participants described the move as a “washout” that clears short-term froth. Others noted that news events — from major earnings to macro headlines — have amplified twitch trading and sudden swings, which can trigger both big transfers and sudden price drops. A handful of asset managers say they are seeing buying at discounted prices while retail participation cools. Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView