Analytics firm CryptoQuant has highlighted how the 365-day trend of the Bitcoin whales signals structural selling pressure from large holders.
Bitcoin Whales Have Seen A Large Negative Yearly Netflow
In a new post on X, CryptoQuant has discussed the latest trend in the yearly netflow of the Bitcoin whales, who are investors carrying between 1,000 and 10,000 tokens of the cryptocurrency. At the current exchange rate, the lower end of the cohort’s range converts to $66.4 million and the upper one to $664 million. As such, the only holders who would qualify for the group would be those with a significant amount of capital.
Because of their position on the network, the behavior of the whales can often be worth keeping an eye on, as it may sometimes carry implications for the market. Even when it doesn’t, it can still be revealing about the sentiment among BTC’s most influential investors.
Now, here is the chart shared by CryptoQuant that shows the trend in the 1-year change in the Bitcoin whale supply, as well as its 365-day moving average (MA), over the last few years:
The value of the metric seems to have been negative in recent weeks | Source: CryptoQuant on X
As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin whales saw a mostly positive 1-year change between late 2023 and mid-2025. In the back half of 2025, however, things began to change for these humongous entities, with their netflow slipping into the red zone.
From the chart, it’s visible that the shift in the 1-year change of whale holdings came ahead of BTC’s all-time high (ATH) above $126,000. This could be a potential sign that some large entities anticipated the forthcoming change of winds in the market.
After BTC saw its November drawdown, the whale netflow dropped to a highly negative value, reflecting aggressive distribution from the group. In 2026, the indicator initially saw recovery, with the February crash even coinciding with a change to slight net buying from the whales, but since then, its value has again plunged back into the negative territory.
Today, the 1-year change in the Bitcoin whale holdings is sitting at -188,000 BTC. Thus, it would appear that whales are participating in significant distribution. “This isn’t short-term,” noted the analytics firm. “The 365D trend is declining, signaling structural selling pressure.”
In some other news, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, in its latest weekly report, has pointed out how a notable amount of supply currently has a cost basis above $80,000. BTC has recently been trading below this level, so all these coins have been underwater.
The data for the latest URPD of BTC | Source: Glassnode's The Week Onchain - Week 13, 2026
After all the bearish price action, these loss holders have two choices: either sell into relief rallies to minimize losses or risk capitulating on further drawdowns. Glassnode explained:
Resolving this overhang will likely require either a meaningful price discount to attract new buyers or an extended period of time for these coins to migrate from loss-realizing hands into more committed ownership.
BTC Price
Bitcoin recovered above $69,000 on Wednesday, but the coin has already retraced this surge as it’s now back at $66,400.
The trend in the price of the coin over the last five days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.