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Whale Sightings Become Scarce, Removing Downward Pressure on Bitcoin: Analyst
Big bitcoin balance holders, or "whales," are moving less crypto onto exchanges, signaling some reduction of sell-side pressure, according to CryptoQuant.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:48 a.m. Published Dec 28, 2020, 4:16 p.m.
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A lack of whales with bitcoin aplenty to sell may be clearing the way for the price of the leading cryptocurrency to rise further, according to CryptoQuant Chief Executive Ki Young Ju.
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- Fewer "whales" – bitcoin holders possessing large balances – are depositing bitcoin onto exchanges the past few days, according to CryptoQuant, a crypto market data aggregator.
- CryptoQuant's "Exchange Whale Ratio," which is calculated by dividing top 10 bitcoin inflow transactions in an hour by total BTC exchange inflows, has dropped below 85%.
- From Dec. 8-22, the ratio stayed above 85% as whales were likely profit-taking during the bull run, which reached a price zenith of $28,352 Sunday according to CoinDesk 20 data.
- Some market exhaustion is expected, according to Young Ju, but he expects institutions to pick up some of the slack.
- "I think this bull run will continue as institutional investors keep buying and Exchange Whale Ratio keeps below 85%," Young Ju noted on Twitter.
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Abu Dhabi wealth funds bitcoin ETF holdings topped $1 billion at end of 2025
Both Mubadala Investment Company and Al Warda Investments lifted investments in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) in the fourth quarter.
What to know:
- Two major Abu Dhabi investment firms, Mubadala Investment Company and Al Warda Investments, increased their holdings of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the fourth quarter of 2025 as bitcoin’s price fell.
- Mubadala lifted its IBIT stake to 12.7 million shares and Al Warda to 8.2 million shares.
- Together, they held a combined position that exceeded $1 billion at the end of 2025 but has since declined to just over $800 million amid further bitcoin losses in 2026.
