Ordinary traders are exiting in droves amid Bitcoin’s slump, while the biggest holders quietly buy the dip.

Bitcoin Whales Accumulate as Retail Investors Sell Off

On-chain data from Glassnode shows a growing divide in Bitcoin market behavior: while retail investors continue to sell, the largest holders—so-called whales—are quietly buying the dip.

Entities holding 10,000 BTC or more are the only cohort actively accumulating Bitcoin as prices fall. Smaller holders, particularly those with less than 10 BTC, have been net sellers for over a month, highlighting persistent risk aversion among retail participants.

Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score by wallet cohort tracks buying and selling over the past 15 days, with scores near 1 indicating accumulation and values near 0 signaling selling. According to this metric, whales are in a “light accumulation” phase, maintaining a neutral-to-slightly-positive trend since Bitcoin dropped to $80,000 in late November. Over the same period, Bitcoin largely traded between $80,000 and $97,000, and it currently sits near $78,000, per CoinDesk.

Meanwhile, the number of entities holding at least 1,000 BTC has risen from 1,207 in October to 1,303, suggesting that large holders have been absorbing supply during the correction. Whales in this cohort are now back at December 2024 levels, reinforcing the idea that major investors are accumulating while smaller traders continue to exit the market.