Whales Drive Bitcoin Down, Price Hovers Near $112K

Bitcoin Stays Range-Bound as Whales and Long-Term Holders Take Profits

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade sideways between $110,000 and $120,000, while gold and U.S. stocks remain near record highs.

Analysis from Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score by cohort shows broad-based selling across all wallet sizes. This metric tracks accumulation versus distribution over 15-day periods for wallets of different sizes, excluding exchanges and miners. Scores near 1 indicate accumulation, while values near 0 signal distribution.

Currently, all cohorts—from small holders under 1 BTC to whales with over 10,000 BTC—are distributing coins. Large whales, in particular, are showing some of the strongest selling activity in the past year.

Long-term holders are also reducing positions. The proportion of circulating BTC unmoved for at least 1 year has fallen from 70% to 60% since November 2023, when BTC was near $40,000. Coins held for over 2 years have dropped from 57% to 52%, while the 3+ year cohort has declined to just above 43% since late 2024. Many of these wallets belong to investors from the 2021 cycle top near $69,000 and buyers from the 2022 bear market lows around $15,500, now realizing gains.

In contrast, holders of coins aged 5+ years remain largely inactive, indicating the longest-term investors are not participating in the current sell-off.

These patterns suggest that investors with unrealized profits from this cycle are taking advantage of gains, contributing to continued selling pressure and keeping Bitcoin range-bound.

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