As Bitcoin consolidates below $114,000, massive sales by whales are causing concern. More than 115,000 BTC have been liquidated recently, a three-year record. These outflows highlight a climate of caution.
Whales are selling more and more Bitcoins
In the short term, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is in a consolidation phase, fluctuating between $107,000 and $114,000, marking a decline of about 10% from its all-time high of $124,277 reached on August 14.
Despite expectations of a Fed rate cut and a macroeconomic environment that is generally favorable to risky assets, Bitcoin remains in a state of uncertainty. Many investors, after enjoying a rally of more than 110% in one year, now seem to be taking their profits, leading to several billion dollars in sales.
Recent on-chain analysis data reveals that whales, large BTC holders, are significantly reducing their exposure.
As shown in the CryptoQuant chart above, wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC have sold more than 115,000 BTC over the last 30 days, equivalent to $12.6 billion.
This is the sharpest decline since Bitcoin crashed to $20,000 in 2022. The decline is all the more striking given that last April, the same indicator peaked with more than 123,000 BTC newly accumulated.
What may seem paradoxical is that this downward trend comes at a time when the news is full of announcements from companies strengthening their positions in Bitcoin. For example, Strategy recently acquired an additional 4,048 BTC, worth approximately $450 million, for its cash reserves.
As is often the case in finance, the dynamics behind the scenes differ from the perception on stage.
How should we interpret the decline in the number of BTC held by whales?
These large fund movements can be interpreted in several ways. On the one hand, they could simply reflect profit-taking after the recent sharp rise in BTC. On the other hand, they may signal anticipation of a more complex macroeconomic change that is potentially less favorable to risky assets. Massive sales by whales exert downward pressure on the market, which has the effect of increasing available supply and reinforcing uncertainty among retail investors.
However, this dynamic does not necessarily constitute a trend reversal.
Historically, during the fall to $20,000 in 2022, similar behavior by large holders preceded a stabilization phase, followed by a new bull cycle. The current signal could therefore also trigger a temporary correction, before a clearer economic context provides lasting direction for the market. For now, despite the slowdown observed in recent months, the underlying trend remains bullish. According to Vincent Ganne, technical analyst at Cryptoast Academy, the cycle is not over. Supported by analyst Plan C’s Bitcoin Quantile Model, he anticipates a peak between $140,000 and $200,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025, provided that macroeconomic fundamentals become clearly favorable again, particularly on the part of the Fed.
