Is This the Secret Behind Bitcoin’s Recent Rally? Trend Shift in Ancient Whale Movements

On-chain data reveals that early Bitcoin whales have significantly slowed their selling rate in this cycle. According to a published analysis, the behavior of this group, who previously sold coins, is increasingly shifting towards holding.

Darkfost, an analyst at the cryptocurrency data platform CryptoQuant, noted a significant drop in on-chain activity by whales, encompassing Bitcoin wallets that have been inactive for over five years. Darkfost stated that compared to the previous cycle, the amount of UTXO spent by these investors decreased from abnormally high levels.

The analysis also noted that the current market cycle presented an almost “perfect” selling window for early whales. The entry of large institutional funds into the market, and even the emergence of state-level buyers, theoretically created a strong selling opportunity. However, as the cycle progressed, the selling behavior of OG whales at Bitcoin’s cyclical peaks appeared to steadily decrease.

This trend is also clearly visible in the STXO (Short Term Spent Trading Output) indicators. While the moving average of the last 90-day STXO peak was around 2,300 BTC, this value has rapidly declined and is currently fluctuating around 1,000 BTC. This decline indicates that the selling pace of early-stage whales has slowed significantly.