CryptoQuant’s onchain data suggests that the structure of the digital asset markets hasn’t materially changed.
This popular belief that Bitcoin is being aggressively purchased by large investors (BTCAccording to Julio Moreno of CryptoQuant, the head researcher, much of what is publicly shared can be misleading. Many of the publicly-shared “whale accumulation” Data is distorted by the exchange activity and not genuine investor behaviour.
For operational and regulatory purposes, cryptocurrency exchanges consolidate the funds of many small wallets to a few large ones. This artificially increases wallets that hold large amounts of money, causing onchain trackers and other software to mistakenly classify it as whale accumulation.
Moreno stated that when these distortions related to exchanges are removed, data still shows large Bitcoin holders are still dispersing Bitcoin, rather than accumulating.
In turn, whales’ overall balances have continued to fall. The number of addresses holding 100-1,000 BTC is also declining, which indicates that exchange traded funds (ETFs) are continuing to withdraw money.
Data is important because Bitcoin whales The market is influenced by large-scale transactions, which often drive price fluctuations and volatility. The market structure has changed since the early 2024 launch of US Bitcoin ETFs. These funds have become the major holders of this digital asset.
Source: Bithumb flags $200M in dormant crypto assets across 2.6M inactive accounts
The long-term investors are now accumulating
As the debate continues about whether Bitcoin’s whales have re-acquired, onchain data points to a shift towards a more positive trend amongst a cohort that is closely monitored: long term holders.
Matthew Sigel of VanEck’s Digital Assets Research said Bitcoin’s long-term owners have become net accumulaters over the last 30 day following the biggest selling event the cohort has experienced since 2019.
It appears that Bitcoin may soon be experiencing a reduction in recent pressure to sell.
Bitcoin has not yet shown a sustained price recovery but has avoided a return to its previous levels. sub-$80,000 low from November. Bitcoin’s price was slightly higher than $90,000 when this article was written.
Source: Crypto’s 2026 investment playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized assets
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Source: cointelegraph.com
