Bitcoin whales sell into rebound as retail buys the dip

Bitcoin’s largest holders, or whales, sold a majority of coins they picked up during last week’s downturn as the price rebounded toward $74,000, while smaller accounts added on the slide below $70,000. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits at 13 on March 8.

On-chain analytics firm Santiment reports that wallets holding 10 to 10,000 BTC accumulated heavily between Feb. 23 and March 3, when prices ranged from $62,900 to $69,600. When Bitcoin approached $74,000 on March 5, those wallets began taking profit and have now offloaded about 66% of what they bought in that period.

At the same time, wallets with less than 0.01 BTC increased their balances as Bitcoin price pulled back to $70K on March 6 and into March 7. A weekend note from Santiment stated, “When retail buys while whales sell, it typically signals that the correction is not yet over.”

Glassnode’s data points to steady supply pressure overhead. Roughly 43% of Bitcoin’s total supply is currently at a loss relative to purchase price, indicating a large pool of holders near or below their cost basis. Recent pushes higher have run into selling from investors exiting around break-even, including near $74,000 last week.

Market sentiment weakened alongside the choppy trading. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell five points to 13 on March 8, placing it in the extreme fear range and marking one of its lowest readings since October.

Price action has lacked clear direction on a monthly view. Bitcoin touched $60,000 on Feb. 6, reached about $74,000 on March 5, and is now trading near $67,000.

Santiment has previously noted that splits between large and small holder behavior have often preceded further downside. The latest readings show large accounts buying during late-February weakness and distributing into last week’s rebound, while retail-sized wallets added during the subsequent pullback.

In market usage, “whales” refers to entities controlling 10 to 10,000 BTC, an amount large enough to influence order books when trading in size. Wallets with less than 0.01 BTC are widely used as a proxy for retail activity. On-chain metrics from firms including Santiment and Glassnode track wallet cohorts and realized prices to map positioning and potential pressure points.