Summary
- A report from CryptoQuant indicates that major Bitcoin holders are either selling off their assets or increasing their holdings at a slower pace.
- This behavior reflects trends seen during the 2022 bear market, which saw Bitcoin's price drop from over $47,000 to $15,000.
- Currently, Bitcoin is trading at a price that is 42% lower than its peak of $126,080 recorded last October.
According to a report by the crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant, significant holders of Bitcoin, often referred to as "whales" (those possessing between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC), have been decreasing their Bitcoin balances over the past year.
This trend, along with a slowdown in accumulation by "dolphins" (those holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC), mirrors the behavior observed during the last major bear market in 2022.
The report notes, “The year-over-year change in whale balances is still negative, exhibiting a distribution pattern that directly reflects the 2022 bear market, where whale growth first plateaued and then turned negative.”
During that period, Bitcoin fluctuated from a high of $47,450 in March to a low of $15,742 in November, representing a decline of approximately 67%.
At present, Bitcoin has seen a 42% decrease from its all-time high of $126,080 reached in October.
CryptoQuant observed, “Both dolphin and whale groups have effectively stagnated on a monthly basis.”
The firm further emphasized that when these significant holders stop accumulating Bitcoin, it often signals potential “sustained price weakness,” as they are crucial for structural demand support within Bitcoin markets.
Despite the stagnation among whales and dolphins, the amount of Bitcoin held by long-term investors has risen to a record 15.8 million BTC, according to CryptoQuant's data. However, analysts view this as a contradictory signal, interpreting it as “a bearish configuration indicating a lack of new market participants.”
“The supply of long-term holders increases when Bitcoin isn’t exchanging hands in significant volumes,” CryptoQuant stated, suggesting that short-term demand is “insufficient” to counteract the selling pressure from long-term holders.
As of Thursday, Bitcoin was trading around $73,536, down 1.7% in the past 24 hours and nearly 5% over the week.
In light of these developments, traders have become increasingly pessimistic about short-term price movements, with rising expectations on Myriad—a prediction market run by Decrypt’s parent company, Dastan—that Bitcoin will dip below $70,000 before the end of May.