What's happening with Bitcoin: a sign that the market is starting to read ahead of the price

As crypto-leaders seek breakouts above $ 70,000, some holders are absorbing demand without a sharp price increase.Reason

Undecided Bitcoin: After falling 50% this year, reaching its all-time high of $126,000 in October, the price of the major digital currency has crossed $64,000 and is now advancing to $67,000.

But the growing data is that the number of Bitcoin addresses that own at least 100 BTC (called whales) has reached a new all-time high. According to online data, this indicates a sustained accumulation by large holders. This is despite the recent price decline and the general volatility of the crypto market.

Bitcoin: The record among whales

The latest data for this index - which combines high net worth individuals, funds, companies and long-term strategic owners - surpassed all previous highs in the calculation, extending a multi-year upward trend that has persisted through various market cycles.

Unlike price charts, data on the addresses and positions of large holders reflects how Bitcoin is actually distributed across the network.

The increase in the number of wallets with large BTC balances suggests a greater concentration of capital in strong hands, which analysts generally interpret as a sign of long-term confidence rather than short-term speculation.

In this regard, Jeronimo Ferrer, Bitfinex Business Manager for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, commented that the consolidation of Bitcoin around US$70,000 can be read as a period of absorption by the big players in the market.

Data on the chain shows that the number of addresses over 100 BTC has reached an all-time high, "reflecting the active accumulation of whales, funds and institutional investors who are taking advantage of this period of low volatility to build strategic positions", the expert said.

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"This process gradually reduces water supply and usually predicts large price movements when demand increases again," he added.

Ferrer comments that in the internal dynamics of the market, Bitfinex observes that this accumulation is not accompanied by a corresponding flow of capital or a significant phase of distribution.

"On the contrary, net BTC flows to cold wallets and self-custodial schemes remain high, indicating that buyers are doing so with a long-term horizon," the expert says.

Therefore, this decision to remove assets from the market supports the idea that the merger "responds to the modification of the supply chain, rather than the loss of interest in Bitcoin," Ferrer warned.

It should be noted that this milestone comes in an environment where the asset is trading around 35% below its previous level, after a year marked by greater institutional participation, growing adoption as a treasury instrument and expanded access through regulated investment products.

Bitcoin: what's happening to the price

Andre Sprone, LATAM user growth manager at MEXC, warns that while the "smooth" price addressing the 100 BTC mark with historical highs "suggests a classic accumulation process: strong hands absorb supply every week without setting a new high," he said.

While the macro hype was months away, the uncertainty hasn't gone away, says Spron."So I'm not reading this move as a clear sign of a particular top or bottom, but as the market digesting the previous rally," he says.

In this phase, according to the expert, the dynamics of buying is more patient and shaky on the part of large investors, while the retailer is divided between those who use average corrections and those who are still afraid of being "late".

"Historically, periods of sideways pricing with whale accumulation tend to be more consistent with bottom building than with a bearish distribution, but they remain an environment that requires caution and risk management, not a blind bet that the market will only go higher. This is not an investment recommendation, but rather a reading of a cycle," Sprone reinforces.

At the same time, Ferrer points out, the private investor is taking a more cautious approach. "After the earlier rally, many smaller players are waiting for further signals before increasing their exposure, limiting immediate buying pressure but also reducing available supply."

At Bitfinex, Ferrer asserts that there is less use of extreme leverage and a greater role for spot operations and hedging strategies, which will contribute to a stable market structure.

“The combination of collecting whales and stationary traders creates a situation of constructive stability that lays the foundation for the ability to move up when the flow of new buyers returns,” he concludes.