Bitcoin whales are accumulating more tokens at a discounted price as the price struggles to make a significant recovery after a sharp decline from its high of $68,000.

Data shows that whales holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have accumulated an additional 94,700 coins over the past six weeks despite the prevailing volatility. While smaller traders are exiting the market due to uncertainty, larger holders are profiting from price declines.

According to Santiment, a market intelligence platform, this accumulation phase indicates strategic buying as the asset’s value is below $60,000.

🐳 Bitcoin whales, especially wallets holding 100-1K BTC, have accumulated an additional 94.7K coins in the past 6 weeks. As price uncertainty has pushed many traders out of the crypto space, key stakeholders are stocking up on their investments. pic.twitter.com/hrhlVrNqNU

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) 19 August 2024

While retail investors face challenges, key stakeholders are building their positions, reflecting different market behavior.

Bitcoin whale accumulation

This accumulation phase suggests that whales are likely preparing for a potential price increase. Their behavior is in sharp contrast to that of smaller traders who are selling out of fear of further price declines.

Previously, wallets in the 100-1,000 BTC range had maintained a stable holding pattern and neither accumulated nor distributed coins.

Highlighting distribution changes

Additional data from IntoTheBlock complements Santiment’s analysis by highlighting changes in the distribution of Bitcoin across different wallet sizes. As of early July 2024, there were 54.18 million Bitcoin addresses. The majority of these addresses held smaller amounts of Bitcoin, while there were fewer but more concentrated larger wallets.

Notably, the number of addresses holding 100-1,000 BTC increased by 1.34% during this accumulation phase. In contrast, the number of mid-sized wallets holding 10,000-100,000 BTC decreased by 2.02%, indicating a possible rebalancing by larger holders, although the overall trend remains biased toward accumulation.

Institutional interest in Bitcoin is increasing

The trend of whale accumulation coincides with increasing inflows into Bitcoin-focused investment products. According to CoinShares, Bitcoin Products led the market with inflows of $42 million, outperforming Ethereum-based products.

Despite these trends, other assets such as Solana have seen significant outflows. Data from early August confirmed the continuation of whale activity, with over $1.6 billion worth of BTC being purchased within 48 hours.