Bitcoin whales, or holders of at least 1,000 BTC, have been the dominant buyers since the price of the largest cryptocurrency bottomed out near $80,000 in late November, according to Glassnode data. They remain the strongest accumulators as bitcoin trades just below $90,000.
According to Glassnode data, the 1,000-10,000 BTC cohort is the only group showing sustained accumulation with an accumulation trend score close to 1.
The metric breaks down buying and selling behavior across wallet cohorts, measuring both the size of units and the net amount of bitcoin they acquired over the past 15 days. A score closer to 1 indicates accumulation, while a score closer to 0 signals distribution.
The data suggests that large holders have accumulated bitcoin in the $80,000 range, a price level bitcoin has not traded in for a long time compared to other price buckets.
This behavior is in stark contrast to smaller holders, who all exhibit varying degrees of distribution.
Given that the Crypto Fear and Greed Index has been in “fear” or “extreme fear” for about the last 30 days, this selling pressure from smaller entities likely reflects capitulation.
Meanwhile, the over 10,000 BTC cohort of whales aggressively bought when bitcoin was trading close to $80,000 in late November, although they have started to slow down in recent weeks. Still, as a cohort they are yet to sell, which was the dominant behavior when the BTC price topped $100,000 around the middle of the year.
