Very large investors, or whales, with 10,000 bitcoin or more are currently the only ones buying the biggest cryptocurrency as prices plummet.
All other holder groups hit the sell button, according to onchain data.
This divergence is highlighted by Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score by Wallet Cohort, which measures the relative behavior of different unit sizes based on both balance and the amount of bitcoin acquired over the past 15 days. Scores closer to 1 indicate buying, while values near 0 signal selling.
According to Glassnode data, the largest whales are in a “slight accumulation” phase and have maintained a neutral-to-slightly-positive balance trend since bitcoin fell to $80,000 in late November. During this period, the price has largely consolidated, trading within a range of $80,000 to $97,000 until the end of January.
Bitcoin is now trading near $78,000, according to CoinDesk data.
In contrast, all smaller cohorts are net sellers, especially retailers with less than 10 BTC. This group has been in sustained selling for over a month, reflecting continued bearishness and risk aversion among smaller participants.
At the same time, the number of unique units with at least 1,000 BTC has increased from 1,207 in October to 1,303.
Since bitcoin’s record high in October, growth in this cohort suggests that larger holders have bought into the correction. Whales of at least 1,000 BTC are now back at the December 2024 highs, reinforcing the view that big players are absorbing supply while smaller holders continue to exit.
