Large bitcoin holders, known as whales, are accumulating the cryptocurrency amid a recent price decline, while smaller retail investors are rushing to sell. On-chain data from Glassnode reveals this stark divide in market behavior. Bitcoin's price has fallen to around $78,000 after consolidating between $80,000 and $97,000 since late November.
The cryptocurrency market is witnessing a clear split between big and small players as bitcoin experiences a selloff. According to Glassnode's on-chain analysis, wallets holding 10,000 bitcoin or more—the so-called mega-whales—are the only group actively accumulating. These large holders have maintained a neutral to slightly positive trend in their balances since bitcoin dropped to $80,000 in late November 2024. Over this period, the price has traded within a range of $80,000 to $97,000 through the end of January 2025, before recently dipping to near $78,000.
Glassnode's Accumulation Trend Score, which tracks buying (scores near 1) versus selling (near 0) over the past 15 days, underscores this pattern. The whales are in a phase of light accumulation, absorbing supply as smaller cohorts distribute their holdings. In particular, retail investors with less than 10 bitcoin have been net sellers for over a month, driven by risk aversion amid the downside pressure.
Further evidence comes from the growing number of entities controlling at least 1,000 bitcoin, which rose from 1,207 in October 2024 to 1,303 by late January 2025. This increase, reaching levels last seen in December 2024, indicates that larger investors are capitalizing on the correction following bitcoin's all-time high in October. Meanwhile, all other holder groups, from mid-sized to small, are hitting the sell button, highlighting a broader retreat among less affluent participants.
This divergence suggests that while retail traders flee the volatility, institutional or high-net-worth players view the dip as an opportunity, potentially stabilizing the market in the long term.
