Bitcoin's price has experienced a significant recovery over the past week, surging from a multi-month low below $81,000 to over $93,000 on Friday. The cryptocurrency was then pushed back to approximately $91,000.
On-chain data suggests that this recent price increase is primarily driven by whale investors, while retail investors appear to be on the sidelines.
Whales Buying, Retail Sidelines?
Data shared by Crypto Rover indicates that larger investors, or whales, have been significantly more active lately. Their behavior has been closely correlated with Bitcoin's price movements in recent weeks. This includes a selling spree in early October when BTC peaked above $126,000 and subsequently dropped by $15,000 within days.
Currently, the data points to substantial accumulation efforts by whales following Bitcoin's sharp decline of $25,000 in just over a week, bringing its price below $81,000.
WHALES ARE BUYING BITCOIN!
— Crypto Rover (@cryptorover) November 28, 2025
Concurrently, smaller investors appear to be adopting a more cautious stance. The same analyst noted that retail investors have been largely absent for the past year, a trend also reflected in Google search data.
Bitcoin retail traders have basically done nothing over the past year.
— Crypto Rover (@cryptorover) November 28, 2025
Global search queries for keywords like "bitcoin" and "buy bitcoin" have shown only sporadic and brief spikes throughout the past year. Overall data suggests that current interest levels are far from the peaks seen during the 2017 or 2021 bull cycles.
ETF Investors Are Back
A potentially bullish indicator for Bitcoin's future price action is the recent return of investors buying through spot Bitcoin ETFs. These financial vehicles experienced a significant outflow of funds over the past month, with a notable exodus from all funds, particularly BlackRock's IBIT.
The past week marked the first positive inflow since early October, though the increase was modest. Following $151 million in net withdrawals on Monday, investors injected $128.7 million on Tuesday, $21.1 million on Wednesday, and $71.4 million on Friday. Thursday was a public holiday in the United States.
As a result, the week concluded with a minor net inflow of $70.2 million. This is a considerable improvement compared to the $1.2 billion withdrawn during the previous trading week.