Large Bitcoin holders buy the dip while smaller investors exit

Bitcoin whales holding between 1000 and 10000 BTC have been buying the crypto asset since its price dipped near $80,000. At the same time, small investors with less than 1,000 BTC have been selling the crypto asset.

Bitcoin whales holding more than 1,000 BTC have been the dominant buyers of the crypto asset since its price approached the $80k range. Onchain data from Glassnode, a blockchain data analytics platform, shows that these players are predominantly the largest accumulators and have expressed increasing interest in long positions in the last few weeks. 

Bitcoin whales buy more as the asset hovers near $80k 

The data shows that the 1,000-10,000 BTC cohort stands as the only whale group displaying sustained accumulation attributes. The group’s Accumulation Trend Score, an on-chain metric that measures whether investors are buying or selling crypto assets over the past 15 days, is close to 1. A score near one shows signs of accumulation, while a score closer to 0 signals distribution. 

The data suggests that these market participants have been buying the dip as BTC trades in the $80k range, a price level last seen in April this year. On the other hand, smaller inventors with less than 1,000 BTC have showcased signs of distribution and have been selling the crypto asset around the same price range.

Larger whales with a BTC balance exceeding 10,000 were initially on a buying spree in late November but have since slowed down their quests in recent weeks. These whales have not shown any signs of selling, an attribute they predominantly displayed as Bitcoin topped $100,000 around mid-year.

A recent Cryptopolitan report, dated December 29, highlighted that Strategy, a U.S.-based software company and the world’s largest corporate BTC holder, purchased 1,229 Bitcoin using proceeds from the issuance of its new MSTR common stock. 

The company completed the purchase for $108.8 million at an average price of $88,568 per Bitcoin. Data from BTC treasuries shows that the company now holds 672,497 Bitcoin valued at approximately $58.91 billion. Hyperscale Data, another publicly listed U.S.-based company, has also recently expanded its Bitcoin holdings. 

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, provided by Coinglass, currently reads 25, indicating that “fear” is the prevailing market sentiment. The index has remained in the “fear” and “extreme fear” brackets for the last month, alleging that the crypto market could be experiencing capitulation due to selling pressure from small-scale investors.

Bitcoin’s price projection remains a mystery as 2026 approaches

Bitcoin’s price has remained relatively unchanged in the last week. According to data from crypto data aggregator CoinMarketCap, the crypto asset is trading at $87,738 and has been hovering between $95k and $85k since the end of November. Bitcoin is down nearly half a percent in the last 24 hours, bringing its seven-day loss to 2.19%. The crypto asset is down 30.53% from its all-time high price of $126,198, which was recorded on October 6 of this year.

Although larger players hint at Bitcoin’s potential short-term recovery, the asset’s overall outlook remains uncertain. Cryptopolitan reported in late November that analysts and traders are cautious about BTC potentially falling below $80,000, a move that could trigger further selling pressure in the entire crypto ecosystem. Data from SosoValue shows that U.S. spot BTC ETFs registered outflows worth $275.88 million on December 26, marking a 6-day streak of negative flows that have drawn over $1 billion from the funds.

However, other industry analysts, such as Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer, and researchers at Galaxy, predict a more positive approach to Bitcoin’s overall price movement. Others remain ambitious about the crypto asset, with some like Ichael Saylor predicting that Bitcoin will hit $21 million in 21 years.

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