According to onchain data from CryptoQuant, claims that major holders are re-hoarding Bitcoin are exaggerated. The numbers that many share on social media may be skewed by exchange rates, not new purchases. That distortion is important because large trade-related transfers can look like one business is accumulating, when the action is usually an internal one.
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Total Whale Wallet Can Mislead
Exchange firms often consolidate funds from many small accounts into a few large wallets for operational or compliance reasons. If that happens, onchain trackers may count those pooled addresses as “whales,” increasing the virtual number of the largest owners.
According to Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, if those exchange-related changes are removed from the data, the balance held by the largest holders of the truth still falls. Balances in addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have decreased, a trend consistent with outflows from existing ETFs.
No, whales do not buy large amounts of Bitcoin.
Most of the Bitcoin whale data out there is “affected” by exchanges that consolidate most of their assets into a few addresses with large amounts, which is why the whales seem to have accumulated a lot of coins recently.
We… pic.twitter.com/dk9XqqckIX
— Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) January 2, 2026
Long Term Owners Responding to the Buyer
Reports have revealed that another party has changed its behavior. Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, says long-term holders have been hoarding them over the past 30 days after their biggest selloff since 2019.
That change can reduce one major source of selling pressure. It doesn’t guarantee a meeting, but it means that at least one set of keys stopped adding to the sales side. Markets react to who is buying and who is selling, and this move by long-term holders softens the issue of one party driving down prices.
Price Action Shows Mixed Signs
Bitcoin has been hovering around the $90,000 area during the sub-holiday trade. At the time of reporting, the price was around $89,750 on Saturday, with a 24-hour volume close to $52 billion.
The token is sitting about 2.8% below its recent day high of $90,250 and has a market capitalization of about $1.75 trillion based on a circulating supply of around 20 million BTC. The trade saw sharp movements up and down, but the volume was weak, which means that the movement does not have the necessary support for a clear break or breakout.
Market Moves Hinge On ETF Flows
Since US spot Bitcoin ETFs went live in early 2024, the ownership picture has changed. Now ETFs capture a large part of the internal and external demand, which can change where Bitcoin is stored and how the flow appears on the onchain charts. Reports suggest that ETF outflows have helped drive balances lower in the 100–1,000 BTC band, while at the same time some long-term holders are quietly buying.
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What This Means for Investors
Taken together, the evidence points to consolidation more than a new bull run or a major crash. Claims of a great wave of regrouping of whales have been overblown because they have not escaped the merger of the exchange.
However, the story is not biased. Long-term holders have shown interest in buying, even as major stock exchanges continue to shed some holdings. Future price direction will likely depend on whether the ETF flows back in size and whether trading volume increases enough to warrant any movement.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
