100-1,000 BTC Wallets Accumulate Amidst Widespread Selling

This insight comes from an examination of Bitcoin's on-chain data, offering a granular look at how the digital asset is being redistributed among its diverse investor base.

Amidst widespread selling pressure across the cryptocurrency market, a surprising trend has emerged: a consistent buildup of Bitcoin (BTC) by addresses holding 100–1,000 BTC.

This insight comes from an examination of Bitcoin’s on-chain data, offering a granular look at how the digital asset is being redistributed among its diverse investor base.

Examining the Accumulation Trend – Heatmap Cohort, which tracks net changes across various address ranges over a 60-day period, reveals a consistent pattern of accumulation solely from the Dolphin cohort throughout 2025. This group, potentially encompassing companies, investment funds, or experienced long-term holders, seems to be incrementally adding to their Bitcoin positions.

Chart of the Accumulation Trend – Heatmap Cohort over 60 days. Source: Wedson

A significant wave of BTC inflows into these addresses coincided with the peak of Bitcoin’s euphoric rally in April 2021. A similar pattern, marked by substantial inflows, was observed in December 2024. Despite lighter accumulation in 2021, Bitcoin reached new all-time highs just a few months later, suggesting a potentially similar scenario could be unfolding now.

In contrast to the Dolphins, addresses holding over 1,000 BTC, often referred to as “whales,” have been in a distribution phase. Since July 2024, these larger holders have reduced their balances by more than 546,000 BTC. Wedson notes a persistent trend of decreasing whale balances since Tesla’s significant BTC purchase in early 2021.

This observation sparks curiosity about potential behind-the-scenes movements or the increasing dominance of exchange wallets in top address rankings.

However, despite lighter accumulation in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bitcoin went on to hit new all-time highs within a few months. This suggests that even minimal accumulation by the Dolphin cohort could have a substantial impact on BTC’s price performance in the long run.

BTC is down 0.16% in the past hour.