Large Bitcoin wallets approach accumulation mark

Santiment said there were 19,993 unique wallets holding 100 BTC or more as of Thursday, putting the threshold within single digits of 20,000. At the time cited, a 100 BTC wallet was worth roughly $6.7 million, underscoring that this cohort is dominated by high-net-worth holders, funds, long-term holders, and institutions rather than retail traders.

The data point matters, Santiment argued, because a growing count of 100+ BTC wallets suggests Bitcoin ownership at the top end is spreading across more large holders instead of concentrating in a smaller number of addresses, which reduces the perceived risk that a handful of whales can swing the market. Santiment said that dynamic points to “less extreme consolidation” among the biggest holders.

At the same time, Santiment cautioned that the percentage of Bitcoin supply held by the 100+ BTC cohort has not “significantly risen” alongside the wallet-count increase. The firm said that gap is consistent with a market where new wallets are reaching the 100 BTC threshold while some longer-term holders are selling, helping explain why prices have remained pressured despite the rise in large-wallet counts.

The signal is being watched as Bitcoin trades well below its prior peak. The report cited Bitcoin at about $67,260 and described the asset as down roughly 47% from an October all-time high of $126,100. In that context, Santiment framed rising whale-wallet counts during drawdowns as a pattern that has historically appeared during accumulation phases that can later support recoveries, though it said confirmation would come if the growth in wallet count is matched by growth in the total supply held by the cohort.

Market focus has also been on whether older holders are still distributing coins into rallies and rebounds. The report cited analyst Will Clemente saying on Jan. 14 that it appeared “Bitcoin OGs” were done selling aggressively “for now,” a comment that circulated as traders tried to explain why price declines persisted into February. 

Near-term traders are treating price structure as the next checkpoint. MN Trading Capital founder Michaël van de Poppe said Bitcoin needs to form a higher low for the uptrend to continue, describing the current setup as constructive so far.

For now, the whale-wallet milestone is being read as a sign of shifting distribution at the top end of the market rather than a definitive turning point. Santiment’s own framing pairs the bullish interpretation—more separate entities reaching “whale” status—with the unresolved constraint that supply concentration in that group has not risen materially yet, leaving the market looking for evidence that large holders are absorbing more coins, not just increasing the number of addresses above a threshold.