The price of Bitcoin has been under a lot of pressure so far in 2026, when a bear market wiped out the profits of several categories of investors. According to the latest on-chain data, this trend may have a broader impact on the main cryptocurrency in this bear market, especially since it affects a significant group of large BTC investors.
Loss of Whale Discovery May Put Further Pressure on Values
In a February 13 post on social media X, anonymous crypto analyst Darkfost shared details about the current holdings of a group of investors known as Bitcoin whales. According to market experts, the unrealized gains of this group of investors are being wiped out by the current market correction.
Specifically, this on-chain is based on the Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) metric of “Big Whales,” representing addresses that hold more than 1,000 BTC. In essence, NUPL is the amount of unrealized profit and loss for investors; with a high (and usually positive) ratio indicating the dominance of unrealized profit, while a negative value suggests otherwise.
According to the highlighted data of CryptoQuant, the NUPL value of the largest Bitcoin whales currently stands at about 0.2. As shown in the chart below, this level of NUPL (surrounding the yellow region) has historically coincided with well-developed phases of a bear market, meaning that this group of whales is approaching an untapped profit.
Source: @Darkfost_Coc on X
While this will still be the case, it should be noted that these BTC whales have historically carried unprecedented losses in bear markets. So, what matters is what happens to their holdings between now and the end of the current correction phase.
According to Darkfost, whales being under this much pressure could mean a market cap, dragging down the price of Bitcoin. Hints of this trend can be seen in recent days, especially among young whales.
These temporary Bitcoin whales are currently seeing significant losses at a rapid rate. Between February 3 and 7, more than three billion dollars in losses were incurred by this new group of whales. In fact, the continued participation of this group of investors could be a new source of selling pressure on the price of BTC.
Bitcoin Price At A Glance
As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $68,710, representing a jump of more than 5% in the last 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the first cryptocurrency fell by about 3% in the last week.
The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
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