Amid Bitcoin’s rally to $100,000 and beyond, BTC price movements have been influenced by interesting dynamics behind the scenes. Buying patterns among whales, retail, spot, and futures have fluctuated notably over the past nine months since BlackRock first filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Large investors’ Bitcoin holdings have been rising steadily since July 2024, while retail holdings have declined by a similar amount, according to charts from CryptoQuant.
Data shows a climb in large investor holdings from about 16.0 million BTC last July to around 16.4 million this January, aligning with price movements above $100,000. Retail balances shifted from roughly 1.76 million to 1.69 million over the same period, with the fall-off mostly happening from November. Since September, the price line has correlated closely with the whale-holding increase.
Demand for spot Bitcoin has also declined, indicating whales are increasingly focused on derivatives rather than spot buys. The chart below tracking apparent demand over a 30-day sum reflects intermittent inflows, with spikes in March, a decline through summer, and a resurgence after mid-October.
However, spot demand growth has slowed over the past few months, suggesting additional inflows may be required to support another sustained rally. Bitcoin reached $109,300 on Jan. 20 before dipping under $100,000 and then recovering to roughly $102,500 as of Jan. 28.
CryptoQuant’s data signals that large investor accumulation coincided with price gains after the US presidential election, while retail balances have shown a decline along with spot purchases.
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