BTC retail vs whales: Who sold early and who's still accumulating?

With Bitcoin now just $800 shy of its all-time high, I see some variation of the same question asked online a lot: who sold early, who’s selling now and who’s still accumulating?


While not a perfect measure, it looks clear to me that our BTC Holder Distribution metric can help provide some macro insights on this.


Below are the combined balances of different Bitcoin holder groups in the past 6 months - from retail investors (‘fish’) to mid-size whales and some of the largest Bitcoin addresses around.


As you’ll see, the hands get stronger the more BTC they hold, with small-scale addresses showing the least patience into the rally, while ‘mega’ whales continue to accumulate as we inch close to a new price ATH.


Let’s start with the ‘fish’. The combined balance of addresses holding between 0.001-0.01 BTC, 0.01-0.1 BTC

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