Very large investors, or whales, holding 10,000 bitcoins or more are currently the only ones buying the largest cryptocurrency as prices fall.
According to onchain data, all other groups of holders are pressing the sell button.
This divergence is highlighted by Glassnode’s accumulation trend score by wallet cohort, which measures the relative behavior of different entity sizes based on both balance and amount of bitcoin acquired over the past 15 days. Scores closer to 1 indicate a buy, while values closer to 0 signal a sell.
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 largely consolidated, trading in a range of $80,000 to $97,000 until the end of January.
Bitcoin is now trading at nearly $78,000, according to CoinDesk data.
In contrast, all small cohorts are net sellers, especially retail holders holding less than 10 BTC. This group has been in persistent selling for over a month, reflecting continued decline and risk aversion among smaller participants.
At the same time, the number of unique entities holding at least 1,000 BTC increased from 1,207 in October to 1,303.
Since Bitcoin’s all-time high in October, the growth of this cohort suggests that the largest holders have embraced the correction. Whales holding at least 1,000 BTC are now back at December 2024 highs, reinforcing the idea that large players are absorbing supply while smaller holders continue to withdraw.
