Early Bitcoin whales have started selling their holdings, making 2025 the most active year of BTC selling on record.
Experts caution that this trend reflects growing tensions around Bitcoin’s price. It also highlights a shift between short-term profit-taking and long-term value conviction.
Old Bitcoin Holders Exit
Earlier this week, a Satoshi-era whale sold all of its Bitcoins, valued at $1.5 billion, after holding them for 15 years.
The latest news reinforced a rising trend that’s getting continuously picked up by market analysts. Now more than ever, original Bitcoin holders are liquidating their positions — a trend unfolding against the backdrop of Bitcoin’s price volatility.
Although Bitcoin currently hovers at $104,000, the asset has been experiencing negative fluctuations over the past few days. It has also been unable to match the $115,000 high set last month.
Analyst Ted Pillows noted that by failing to meet its $105,000-$106,000 target, Bitcoin lost its support zone again. He also pointed out other trends indicating that the selling pressure of early Bitcoin whales is far higher than expected.
“Yesterday, Bitcoin ETFs bought $530,000,000 in BTC, and yet Bitcoin dumped,” Pillows said in a social media post, adding, “If bulls really want to bring BTC momentum, they need to reclaim the $108,000 level. If this doesn’t happen, BTC will drop below $100,000 again.”
According to some experts, veteran Bitcoin holders are less concerned about the price and more about the long-term vision.
True Value Beyond Price
In an interview with Milk Road, Erik Voorhees, a well-known long-term Bitcoin holder and founder of ShapeShift, said that those who have held Bitcoin for over a decade tend to have a fundamentally different mindset.
Their focus is not on short-term price gains but on Bitcoin achieving true adoption and monetary dominance.
Voorhees added that early adopters who have held Bitcoin for over a decade don’t see its current price as significant.
“They don’t really see $100,000 as a super interesting price and they’re not trying to sell Bitcoin… to make a bunch of dollars. Bitcoin is the valuable thing,” Voorhees explained.
For long-term holders, Bitcoin’s value lies in its potential as a global, decentralized financial system, rather than as a speculative asset. They may view the price as merely another step in Bitcoin’s long-term journey.
Voorhees also warned that on-chain data interpretations can sometimes be misleading.
While on-chain data is often used to track wallet movements, the transfer of old coins does not necessarily indicate a sale. They can also represent portfolio reorganization, custody updates, or internal wallet management — a reminder that not all whale activity signals bearish intent.
