Bitcoin Whale Activity Surges Amidst Market Correction: What's Driving the Trend?

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin whale activity potentially hitting a yearly high in weekly transactions as Bitcoin falls below $90,000.
• Analysts speculate whale selling contributing to the recent crypto market pullback.
• Data suggests large holders have been accumulating Bitcoin since late October.
• Potential for a Bitcoin price rebound in the near future.

Increased Whale Activity During Market Downturn

According to market intelligence platform Santiment, Bitcoin whale activity may reach its highest spike in weekly transactions this year as Bitcoin's price dips below the $90,000 mark. Santiment noted in an X post on Wednesday that this surge in whale activity has coincided with the recent decline in cryptocurrency prices. Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $90,000 this week – a level not seen in seven months. Santiment reported tracking over 102,000 whale transactions exceeding $100,000 and an additional 29,000 transactions surpassing $1 million.

"This week has a high probability of concluding as the most active whale week of 2025, with the nature of these whale movements shifting from dumping to accumulation."

Whale Influence on Market Dynamics

Some market analysts have suggested that selling pressure from whales is partially responsible for the ongoing crypto market correction. However, data from analytics platform Glassnode indicates that large holders have been actively accumulating Bitcoin since late October, evidenced by a significant increase in whale wallets holding over 1,000 Bitcoin starting last Friday.

Whales Buying the Dip

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Pav Hundal, lead analyst at crypto trading platform Swyftx, attributes spikes in whale activity over the past year to news cycles, with considerable twitch trading correlated to geopolitical events in the US. "BTC has rallied following Nvidia’s strong earnings report, suggesting both whales and retail investors are buying," he stated.

He further added that "the buy-to-sell ratio on Swyftx's order books reached record highs in early trading, with 10 buys for every sell, compared to the average of 3:1, indicating that investors are actively buying the dip."

Bradley Duke, Managing Director and Head of Bitwise Asset Management in Europe, shared in an X post on Wednesday that his firm observed whales capitalizing on the market downturn. "While fear and panic gripped many investors, the number of BTC Whales has increased lately. Large holders are staying calm and buying at discount prices from panic sellers. Stay strong," he advised.

Potential Market Rebound

Tushar Jain, co-founder and managing partner at investment firm Multicoin Capital, posted on X Wednesday, noting a pattern in the selling activity, and anticipating it could soon end. "It feels like a significant forced seller is present in the market. We are witnessing systematic selling during specific hours, potentially due to liquidations. It is difficult to imagine this level of forced selling continuing much longer."

BitMine chairman Tom Lee and Bitwise Asset Management chief investment officer Matt Hougan projected on Monday that Bitcoin could potentially reach a bottom as early as this week.