Bitcoin price remains stuck: small investors buy, but where are the whales?

The Bitcoin price has been hovering around the mid-$60,000 level for weeks. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much going on. Yet new on-chain data shows that something striking is happening beneath the surface.

Small investors are buying en masse, while large investors are selling. That tension can determine what the Bitcoin price will do in the coming weeks.

Small investors are piling up Bitcoin

According to data from analytics platform Santiment, the number of wallets holding less than 0.1 BTC has increased by about two and a half percent since the record high in October. These types of small positions are often associated with retail investors, also known as ‘shrimps’.

That increase has taken their share of the total Bitcoin supply to the highest level since mid-2024, indicating that retail investors remain confident in the market and continue to accumulate, despite the sharp correction earlier this year.

It is striking that this buying urge among small investors started after a sharp decline towards $60,000. That decline represented a correction of more than fifty percent compared to the peak in October. Such moments often cause panic. This time, many small investors took it as a buying opportunity.

Whales hit the brakes

At the same time, larger players show a different picture. Wallets with between 10 and 10,000 BTC, the so-called whales and sharks, have reduced their positions by about 0.8 percent on balance since October.

And it is precisely this group that usually sets the tone for the Bitcoin price. Major parties have sufficient capital to strengthen or slow down trends. When they sell net during recovery movements, an erratic price movement often occurs without clear direction.

Previous data from Glassnode showed that the group with 10 to 100 BTC in particular bought aggressively during the dip in early February. The so-called Accumulation Trend Score then rose to 0.68, indicating broad accumulation. But over a longer period of time, the larger segment, up to 10,000 BTC, remains net sellers.

That difference could mean that mid-market wallets have bought the decline, while the largest players are taking advantage of any upturn to take profits.

What does this mean for the Bitcoin price?

Retail investors can form a floor under the market. They provide constant demand and can trigger short rallies. But sustainable increases usually require a structural influx of large parties.

As long as whales continue to distribute their Bitcoin, there is a risk that any upswing will be sold off again. Only when this group stops selling or starts actively accumulating again can room be created for a more powerful upward trend.

So the market is not waiting for new small buyers. They are already there. What is missing is conviction among the biggest players.