Numbers don’t always tell the whole story. But sometimes they suggest something worth watching. According to crypto analytics platform Santiment, the total number of Bitcoin wallets holding at least 100 BTC is close to 20,000 – a limit that some analysts read as the first sign that confidence among major holders may be quietly building again.
Bigger Wallets, More Spread
As of Thursday, 19,993 unique wallets held 100 BTC or more. At current prices, each of those wallets is carrying around $6.71 million worth of Bitcoin. Santiment flagged a milestone for X, saying it could be skipped on Friday.
The importance, according to the speaker, lies in what the growing number of large wallets are suggesting about how Bitcoin ownership is distributed.
If more wallets reach that threshold rather than a few, it points to broader holding patterns among major buyers – reducing the external influence that a few dominant players can have over prices. “In that sense, it points to very little consolidation at the top,” Santiment said.
📈 Bitcoin is about to hit a milestone, surpassing 20,000 wallets at least 100 $BTC. A wallet with 100 or more Bitcoins is worth at least $6.78M, and will obviously be owned by the highest number of people, funds, long-term holders, or… pic.twitter.com/ayzB0fmguC
– Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 26, 2026
That kind of spread is generally considered a healthy sign in the market. Too narrow a focus on supply means fewer actors are able to move prices dramatically with one big job.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $68,150, down about 45% from its all-time high of $126,000 reached in October. The price drop has been steep. But it’s during these types of downturns that big shoppers have historically been known to hoard – making wallet data worth paying attention to.
Old Holders Out, New Holders In
There is a catch, however. Reports from Santiment show that the total amount of Bitcoin supply held by wallets in this phase has not really changed. New funds are crossing the 100 BTC line, but some long-term holders seem to be selling at the same time.
One group is coming as the other is about to leave. “That’s why prices remain depressed,” said Santiment. Buying is true, but so is selling – and right now they almost cancel each other out.
The balance may change
The fear is that early Bitcoin holders – people who amassed coins years ago at a fraction of today’s prices – have been quietly liquidating their positions for months. It is widely seen as one of the main reasons for the continued price decline.
According to Glassnode, it seems that Bitcoin OGs are done selling aggressively for now pic.twitter.com/yrmIDg8cho
– Will (@WClemente) January 13, 2026
Bitcoin analyst Will Clemente spoke about that concern back in January, saying that it appears that those long-term holders have stopped selling aggressively, at least for now.
The 20,000 wallet milestone, if and when it is reached, will not change the market overnight. Bitcoin remains below its peak, and the tug-of-war between new buyers entering and old holders exiting continues to weigh on prices.
But the data suggests the balance may be shifting slightly. Whether that change is enough to matter – and when – remains an open question.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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