Major bitcoin holders bought more than 270,000 bitcoin ($16.7 billion) over the past two weeks, stepping in as US institutions pulled out money at a record pace.
U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) lost $4.06 billion in June, their worst month since IPOs, surpassing the previous record of $3.56 billion set in February 2025.
The outflow pushed the funds into the red for 2026 as a whole for the first time, and those products finally recorded inflows of $221 million on Thursday.
Big wallets, often called whales, went the other way, analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex shared with CoinDesk in a Friday note. They added more than 270,000 BTC over two weeks, while the spot premium, a measure of how hard US buyers are bidding, remained negative, meaning the buying did not come from spot desks.
Institutions selling and large holders accumulating at the same time is the pattern that has emerged near previous cycle lows, with long-term holders taking coins from sellers before any recovery hits price.
