Bitcoin is now trading just below its $125,000 all-time high, following a powerful 15% rally from the $109,000 level that reignited bullish momentum across the market. After weeks of sideways movement, bulls have reclaimed control, pushing BTC into a critical zone where a clean breakout above $125K could mark the start of a new price discovery phase.
However, not all signals are equally bullish. A recent report from CryptoQuant sheds light on growing caution among large holders. The firm’s Total Whale Holdings metric tracks the 30-day percentage change in Bitcoin held by whales, offering a direct view into their accumulation or distribution activity. Currently, the indicator is showing negative values, signaling that whales have been actively reducing their positions throughout September 2025.
This decline in whale balances suggests that while retail and institutional inflows have driven price gains, smart money is locking in profits after months of upward momentum. The combination of strong technical structure and shifting onchain data presents a pivotal moment for Bitcoin. Bulls must sustain pressure above key resistance levels to invalidate the risk of a deeper correction — and confirm that this rally is more than just a temporary spike in optimism.
Whales Show Signs of Exhaustion
Top analyst Burak Kesmeci shared new insights on Bitcoin’s current onchain dynamics, pointing to a potential shift in whale behavior that could shape the market’s next major move. According to Kesmeci, the red zone on the chart clearly illustrates a 30-day downtrend in whale holdings, confirming that large investors have sold a significant amount of Bitcoin over the past month. This sustained selling pressure coincided with Bitcoin’s earlier struggles to hold above $120,000, contributing to volatility and short-term uncertainty.
However, despite this wave of distribution, one key observation stands out: as prices have stabilized near record highs, whales have noticeably slowed their selling pace. The narrowing purple area in the indicator marks a gradual recovery from the negative zone, signaling that the most intense phase of selling may now be behind us.
Kesmeci concludes that whales have been net sellers for nearly a month, but in the first days of October, this trend has clearly eased. This behavior could suggest the beginning of a re-accumulation phase, where large holders start building positions again at slightly lower levels. In short, Bitcoin’s biggest investors appear to be approaching selling exhaustion, which may support a short-term uptrend as long as the data remains stable.
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