Short-term Bitcoin whales hold $9B in unrealized gains

Onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant recorded short-term Bitcoin holders classified as whales-wallets holding coins less than six months-sitting on $9.07 billion in unrealized profits on Sept. 4. The firm said this was the largest reading it has tracked since it began measuring whale profitability in 2016.

CryptoQuant noted the short-term whales’ breakeven cost is near $69,000, which makes their profitability sensitive to small price moves. A near 2% decline in BTC/USD on Sept. 5 removed roughly $1.5 billion, about 17%, from the cohort’s unrealized gains.

The firm warned that large paper gains can translate into selling pressure. It wrote: “Unrealized profit at that scale is exposure. A cohort sitting on a record paper gain can turn into sellers the moment price wobbles, and STH whales are historically the fastest to take profit when it’s available.”

Exchange flows have increased since May, the report said. On Sept. 2, Binance held 691,658 BTC in reserves, the highest level since November 2024. CryptoQuant described whale participation in those inflows as “relatively contained.”

The analysis noted that elevated exchange inventories raise the supply available for sale and that any sustained move above $83,000 would require continued spot buying to absorb that supply. The firm wrote that liquidity and positioning on Binance remained orderly despite the higher reserve base.

The report was released as market participants monitor spot ETF flows and other demand metrics to determine whether available supply will be absorbed by the market.