Key Insights
- •Bitcoin price is consolidating near $95,000.
- •A long-term Bitcoin holder, an "OG whale," has been selling since December and still holds 2500 Bitcoin, potentially adding pressure to BTC price if selling continues.
- •Bitcoin ETFs experienced outflows on Friday, indicating a pause in institutional demand after strong inflows through Thursday.
Last week, the Bitcoin price surged above $97,000 for the first time in two months, driven by rising bullish optimism and healthy demand. However, this rally lost momentum halfway through the week as bulls exhausted their strength.
The BTC price subsequently retreated to the $95,000 level and remained there over the weekend. This consolidation signaled indecisiveness in market direction. Nevertheless, the fact that Bitcoin price consolidated near the $95,000 level also indicated a gradual climb up the "wall of uncertainty."
Despite some sell pressure in the latter half of the week, the limited downside demonstrated growing bullish confidence. Holders were less inclined to take short-term profits, anticipating that the BTC price would rally above $100,000.
OG Whale Contributes to Bitcoin Price Retracement
Recent on-chain data revealed that one of the early whales, who acquired Bitcoin over a decade ago, was among those contributing to the sell pressure. An address that received 5,000 BTC approximately 12 years ago reportedly sold 500 BTC in the last 24 hours.
Lookonchain data indicated that this same whale began selling some of its BTC holdings in December 2024. To date, the whale has sold approximately half of its holdings at an average price of $106,164.
This means the whale has generated at least $265 million from selling half its holdings, representing a return of over 15,000% from the initial investment of $1.66 million.
The OG Bitcoin whale was one of many large holders who have recently been offloading significant amounts of Bitcoin over the past few months. Their actions have led the market to question whether BTC is still adhering to the traditional 4-year cycle or if market dynamics have shifted.
Bitcoin Price Uncertainty Reflects Recent Pause in BTC ETF Demand
The recent pause in the bullish momentum coincided with trends in Bitcoin ETF flows. This category of holders initially maintained strong demand throughout the previous week, up until Thursday.
However, Bitcoin ETFs experienced outflows on Friday, selling $394 million worth of BTC. These outflows aligned with the recent pause in demand and the consolidation observed near the $95,000 price level.
It remains to be seen whether ETFs will continue to offload more coins into the market this week. Similarly, analysts are closely monitoring whale activity over the weekend to gauge the intensity of sell pressure. The bullish pause observed in the latter half of last week provided an opportunity to assess whether sell pressure would dominate or if further upside potential would emerge in the coming days.
The market's response this week has underscored limited downside despite the prevailing uncertainty. Furthermore, market sentiment briefly returned to the "greed" territory, reaching as high as 61 points, before reverting to a neutral 49 points at the time of observation.
The spike in sentiment suggests increased accumulation, although some short-term holders engaged in minor profit-taking.
The recovery in sentiment indicates that Bitcoin may push above $100,000 in the upcoming days. Whales maintained a bullish bias over the weekend, with net spot inflows of $9 million and nearly $500 million in long positions across Binance, OKX, and Coinbase.