Bitcoin profit-taking underway as ‘big whales’ continue sell-off

Large Bitcoin holders have been steadily taking profits after the cryptocurrency recently hit a new peak, continuing a years-long trend of the cryptocurrency’s “big whales” cashing out.

Analyst Willy Woo posted to X on June 3 that “big whales” with over 10,000 Bitcoin ( BTC ) “have been selling since 2017,” answering the question of who is selling the cryptocurrency when “ institutions and sovereigns are racing to buy billions in BTC.”

“Most of those coins were bought between $0 and $700 and held for 8 to 16 years,” he explained. 

The chart shows that the supply held by whale entities with a balance between 10,000 and 100,000 Bitcoin has been in steady decline for the past eight years. During that period, the amount of Bitcoin held by these entities has fallen by around 40% from 2.7 million to around 1.6 million BTC. 

Woo said that it doesn’t make sense in the short term to invest in Bitcoin while it’s trading for six figures, but within another 10 years will be “probably one of the best investments you'll see in your investment career.”

On June 3, Glassnode stated that the recent Bitcoin all-time high breakout, which culminated in a new peak of just under $112,000 on May 22, led to a “notable uptick in profits locked in, with the average coin capturing a 16% profit.”

Fewer than 8% of trading days have been more profitable for investors, “suggesting a meaningful transition into profit-taking activity is underway,” it added.

The analytics platform also reported that entity-adjusted realized profit spiked above $500 million per hour three times on June 3, “signaling intense profit-taking activity.” 

Bitcoin holds $105,000

Bitcoin has retraced 5.5% since its May all-time high and dipped to $105,000 on June 3 before jumping back up to $106,800.

However, momentum was halted there as the asset fell back to $105,750 during early trading on June 4. 

Bitcoin has held above six figures for the longest period in history at 27 days, eclipsing the 18 days it remained above $100,000 in January.