On-chain data show that large Bitcoin holders holding 10,000 BTC or more have been buying during the recent price drop. Smaller holders, particularly retail cohorts with less than 10 BTC, have been net sellers for over a month. Bitcoin is trading near $78,000, with large holders buying during the drop and smaller holders selling, and these opposing patterns are present across wallet-size cohorts during the recent market movement without detailing underlying mechanisms that include wallets above 10,000 BTC and retail accounts under 10 BTC over the past month to date.
Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score by wallet cohort measures short-term on-chain buying and selling behavior by comparing each cohort’s balance and the amount of bitcoin acquired over the preceding 15 days, with scores closer to 1 indicating net buying and scores closer to 0 indicating net selling. The measure is reported for discrete wallet-size cohorts, categorizing behavior according to balance bands and recent acquisition activity over that 15-day window, which enables direct comparison of short-term accumulation tendencies across different sizes of holders.
On-chain data show that the largest whale cohort registers a “light accumulation” phase on that score. That cohort’s balance trend has been neutral-to-slightly-positive since Bitcoin fell to $80,000 in late November 2024. The Accumulation Trend Score reflects these cohort-level shifts without detailing individual transactions.
The number of unique entities holding at least 1,000 BTC has markedly increased from 1,207 in October to 1,303. This growth within the 1,000 BTC holding cohort since the October all-time high indicates that larger holders have been actively buying into the market correction. Notably, whales holding at least 1,000 BTC have returned to levels seen in December 2024. Such behavior by large players highlights their strategic accumulation moves as they absorb market supply while smaller holders exit their positions. This trend underscores a fundamental shift in the distribution of Bitcoin holdings, potentially impacting market dynamics as significant volume is being consolidated by fewer, larger entities, pointing to a confidence-driven accumulation strategy among major stakeholders.
On-chain data record that large Bitcoin holders have been buying during recent price declines, while smaller retail cohorts have been reducing positions and selling over the same period. Those opposing, data-driven behaviors—accumulation by large players accompanied by distribution from retail holders—are evident across wallet-size cohorts in the on-chain metrics reported for the recent market movement, without addressing transaction-level mechanisms or individual wallet activity.
