On-chain data revealed that whales are accumulating BTC in the first week of 2026. Arkham Intelligence reported that three wallets accumulated 3,000 BTC worth approximately $280 million in the last 10 hours.
The analytics firm believes that the three wallets might belong to the same whale. The purchase of BTC by whales and institutions also suggests a bullish trend and confidence in Bitcoin as prices recover to the $100,000 level.
Bitcoin’s break above $90K causes an increase in whale activity
At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $91,855, down nearly 7% in the last 24 hours. BTC bounced back at the beginning of the year, up about 3.9% in the last 7 days. Santiment stated that Bitcoin’s break above $90,000 has led to an increase in whale activity, signaling a shift in market participation.
Santiment also reported that large Bitcoin holders have been buying since mid-December. The analytics firm found that large holders added more than 56,227 BTC, worth approximately $5.3 billion, since December 17.
Santiment acknowledged that there has been a shift in market positioning, as BTC whales now control more Bitcoin than they did in mid-December. The on-chain analytics firm argued that crypto markets have historically moved in the direction chosen by whales, rather than following retail behavior.
Santiment noted that Bitcoin whales initiated the accumulation phase at the asset’s bottom in mid-December. The firm also found that whale wallets increased their positions even as prices remained range-bound.
The analytics firm stated that the divergence between whale accumulation and price action suggests that large holders are anticipating bullish momentum despite prices remaining flat. Santiment also noted that the pattern has intensified over the past 24 hours, driven by retail traders exiting positions.
Santiment stated that retail investors are selling and taking profits, believing the current rally represents a bull trap. The firm also argued that the combination of whale accumulation and retail profit-taking signals continued growth in crypto markets.
On Tuesday, crypto analyst James Check acknowledged there’s heavy supply redistribution in Bitcoin after the asset pushed toward $94,000 at the beginning of the year. He also noted that the top-heavy supply has rebalanced from 67% to 47%, and profit-taking has significantly decreased. The analyst added that futures markets are experiencing a short squeeze, but the overall market leverage remains low.
CryptoQuant disputes Bitcoin whale accumulation
CryptoQuant revealed that BTC’s bullish momentum this year, together with a range-bound December, signals a change in exchange flow patterns. Binance reported a surge in Bitcoin deposits to 21.7 BTC per transaction last month. The firm noted that the surge represents a 34x hike from the 0.86 BTC average in early January 2024.
“The sharp increase in average Bitcoin inflows to Binance suggests that larger holders are becoming more active again, which is typically an early signal of renewed speculation rather than retail-driven noise.”
-Wenny Cai, COO of SynFutures.
CryptoQuant’s Head of Research, Julio Moreno, said on Friday that whales are not buying an enormous amount of BTC. He argued that most Bitcoin whale data on-chain has already been affected by exchanges consolidating most of their holdings into fewer addresses with larger balances.
Digital asset exchanges maintain operations by consolidating funds from several smaller wallets into fewer larger ones. The initiative tends to increase the number of wallets holding huge balances, which leads to misleading on-chain data indicating whale accumulation.
Moreno believes it’s the reason why whales appear to have accumulated a significant amount of BTC recently. The analyst added that CryptoQuant has data that removes all exchange addresses, which shows whale balances plummeting. He also said the same applies to addresses with 100-1,000 Bitcoins, which capture ETF holdings.
The cryptocurrency market has shifted since early 2024 after the introduction of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. The funds have emerged as major holders of Bitcoin, collectively holding nearly 1.3 million BTC at the time of publication. These funds have altered how large-scale BTC ownership appears on-chain.
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