- Onchain data from CryptoQuant indicate claims of large-scale Bitcoin reaccumulation by whales are overstated.
- Exchange wallet consolidations inflate counts of very large addresses and can mislead trackers into reporting “whale accumulation”.
- When exchange-related transfers are filtered out, large holders appear to be distributing Bitcoin and overall whale balances are declining.
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs now hold about 1.3 million BTC (roughly 6.2% of supply), changing the market’s holder base; see Bitbo for ETF holdings.
- Long-term holders have recently become net accumulators over the past 30 days, according to Matthew Sigel of VanEck.
CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno recently said onchain data show speculation that Bitcoin whales are reaccumulating has been overstated, because exchange-related movements distort wallet-size metrics, as noted by Julio Moreno. Exchanges routinely consolidate funds from many small wallets into fewer large addresses for operational and regulatory reasons, which inflates counts of very large balances.
This consolidation leads public onchain trackers to misclassify exchange activity as “whale accumulation”. After filtering out exchange-related transactions, the adjusted data indicate large holders are distributing Bitcoin rather than accumulating it, and aggregate whale balances continue to fall.
Addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have also shown declines, a pattern consistent with ETF outflows. The market’s holder composition has shifted since early 2024 with the launch of US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which collectively hold nearly 1.3 million BTC—about 6.2% of total supply, per Bitbo.
At the same time, a separate onchain signal points to a more constructive trend among long-term holders. Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, reported that long-term holders became net accumulators over the past 30 days after a large selling event, as noted on Matthew Sigel‘s post.
Bitcoin’s price has not staged a sustained recovery but has avoided a retest of the sub-$80,000 low from November and was trading slightly above $90,000 at the time of reporting.
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