Bitcoin whale activity is on track for its highest weekly transaction volume of the year, coinciding with Bitcoin's recent fall below $90,000. Market intelligence platform Santiment noted that the increase in whale transactions has mirrored the slump in cryptocurrency prices.
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below the $90,000 mark this week for the first time in seven months. Santiment has already recorded over 102,000 whale transactions exceeding $100,000 and an additional 29,000 transactions valued at over $1 million.
“This week has a good chance of ending up as the most active whale week of 2025, with the context of these whale moves gradually turning from dumping to accumulating again.”
Some analysts have speculated that whale selling is a contributing factor to the recent cryptocurrency market pullback. However, data from Glassnode indicates that large holders have been accumulating since late October, with a significant increase in whale wallets holding more than 1,000 Bitcoin starting last Friday.
Whales Are Buying the Dip
Pav Hundal, lead analyst at crypto trading platform Swyftx, believes that news cycles have historically driven spikes in whale activity, with a notable amount of trading linked to geopolitical events in the US. He observed that Bitcoin has rallied following positive earnings reports from companies like Nvidia, suggesting that both whales and retail investors are stepping in to buy.
Hundal added that the buy-to-sell ratio on Swyftx's order books reached record highs in early trading, with 10 buys for every sell, significantly higher than the average of 3:1. This indicates that investors are actively buying during the price dip.
“The market is irrational at the moment. We’ve seen an unprecedented shake-out of short-term holders over the last few weeks. When you look at the data, I see this as a mechanical shakeout. This looks like a much-needed washout and reset for the market.”
Bradley Duke, Managing Director and Head of Bitwise Asset Management in Europe, commented that his company has observed whales buying the dip as fear and panic have gripped the market. He noted that while many investors were afflicted by fear and panic, the number of BTC Whales has recently spiked. Large holders are maintaining a level head and purchasing at discount prices from panic sellers, encouraging others to "stay strong."
Patterns Suggest a Big Forced Seller
Tushar Jain, co-founder and managing partner of investment firm Multicoin Capital, identified a pattern in the recent selling activity and anticipates it may conclude soon. He stated that it feels like a significant forced seller is active in the market, with systematic selling occurring during specific hours. This is likely a consequence of liquidations, and Jain finds it hard to imagine this scale of forced selling continuing for much longer.
BitMine chairman Tom Lee and Bitwise Asset Management chief investment officer Matt Hougan predicted earlier in the week that Bitcoin could reach a bottom as soon as this week.