Retail Buyers Lift Bitcoin Price Usd as Whales Sell, Raising Downside Risk
Saturday at 12: 00 a. m. ET — Retail investors and small-wallet holders face renewed downside risk after large holders began taking profits, a shift that left traders and long-term holders exposed when bitcoin price usd slipped back below key levels, Santiment said in a weekend note.
Santiment: Small wallets buying as whales sell puts retail at risk
Wallets holding less than 0. 01 BTC have been steadily increasing positions as bitcoin slipped back below $70, 000 on Friday and into Saturday, the pattern Santiment flagged as a warning sign for retail participants. That buying by tiny wallets comes while larger holders move the opposite direction, which the firm described as a classic setup where retail chases bounces and then faces fresh selling pressure.
Bitcoin Price Usd: Whales accumulated then offloaded roughly 66% of recent buys
Whales holding between 10 and 10, 000 bitcoin accumulated heavily between Feb. 23 and March 3, when bitcoin was trading between $62, 900 and $69, 600, and then started taking profit when bitcoin hit $74, 000 on Thursday. Those same wallets have since offloaded roughly 66% of what they’d just bought, a rotation that directly contributed to the retreat in the bitcoin price usd as recent rally gains were trimmed.
Glassnode: About 43% of supply is underwater and sentiment shows “extreme fear”
Glassnode data shows around 43% of bitcoin’s total supply is now sitting at a loss, meaning each push higher runs into sellers who are underwater and often look to break even rather than ride further gains. Still, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index fell 6 points to 12 on Saturday, placing sentiment deep in “extreme fear, ” one of the lowest readings since the October crash and reinforcing why rallies are repeatedly sold.
That pattern has produced enormous intra-week swings but little net movement: bitcoin touched $60, 000 on Feb. 6 and $74, 000 on March 5, and it is now around $68, 000, roughly where it stood three weeks earlier. Yet, with whales taking profits and retail buying the dips, every rally bumps into a wall of supply from both profit-takers and holders selling to recoup cost bases.
If selling exhausts itself and the underwater supply is absorbed, bitcoin is expected to break out above $74, 000 with conviction.
