Whales’ Bitcoin share hits 9-month low as retail buys

Large Bitcoin holders’ share of circulating supply fell to a nine-month low as retail buying picked up and the token’s price dropped about 27% to roughly $65,000, Santiment data show.

Wallets holding 10 to 10,000 BTC now control 68.04% of supply. In a post on X on Thursday, Santiment wrote that “whale and shark wallets” reduced their combined share after a net sale amounting to “a dump of 81,068 BTC” in recent days. During that stretch, Bitcoin fell from around $90,000 to about $65,000. Around the time of the post, Bitcoin traded near $64,800 after a 24-hour low just above $60,000.

Smaller addresses increased balances. Holdings in wallets with less than 0.1 BTC, often called “shrimp,” rose to a 20-month high. By Santiment’s tally, this cohort accounts for 0.249% of supply, or roughly 52,290 BTC. In the same update, the firm wrote, “This combination of key stakeholders selling and retail buying is what historically creates bear cycles.”

Sentiment gauges weakened alongside the on-chain shift. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 23 on Friday, the lowest reading since mid-2022. On Wednesday, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju wrote on X that “every Bitcoin analyst is now bearish.”

Traders and analysts track holdings by large addresses to assess whether big investors are accumulating or distributing coins. Santiment defines “whales and sharks” as holders of 10 to 10,000 BTC, and “shrimp” as less than 0.1 BTC. These shares are derived from balances recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Over the past 12 months, Bitcoin is down about 30%. Recent trading has been volatile, with intraday swings around round-number levels.