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(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin has just drawn fresh support from some of its largest holders, though the return of demand remains narrow enough to raise doubts about whether it marks a recovery or mere damage control.
So-called whale wallets accumulated about 53,000 coins in the past week, their biggest buying spree since November, after weeks of heavy selling. Those kinds of purchases helped steady prices after a steep drawdown, even as most other investors stayed on the sidelines.
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Data from industry research firm Glassnode show that wallets holding more than 1,000 Bitcoin added more than $4 billion worth of the token over the period, interrupting months of divestment that have left Bitcoin roughly 40% below its October peak.
“It does slow down any downfall,” said Brett Singer, head of sales at Glassnode. “But we still need to see more money coming into the market.”
That caveat matters. While large holders have stepped back in, the broader trend still points to caution. Excluding exchange-traded funds and exchanges, large Bitcoin-holding players have been net sellers over the past year, with more than 170,000 coins — worth some $11 billion — leaving these wallets since mid-December, according to Glassnode.
Bitcoin’s price action reflects that uneven support. Since reaching a record high in October, the token slid last week to around $60,000, before rebounding to roughly $70,000. It was trading above $69,100 at 9 a.m. in Singapore on Wednesday.
The stop-and-start behavior among large holders has sharpened a familiar question hanging over the market: who, exactly, is left to power the next sustained rally?
Many investors who bought Bitcoin through newly launched exchange-traded funds are now sitting on losses, making them less inclined to add aggressively. At the same time, publicly listed companies that had embraced Bitcoin as a reserve asset have slowed their purchases as their own share prices have come under pressure.
Without a fresh source of demand, the latest accumulation looks more like damage control than renewed conviction — a pattern that has supported short-term rebounds in past cycles but rarely produced lasting momentum on its own.
“When the storm clears, we’ll be buying again, as we sold some before the end of last year,” said Bruno Ver, a long-time crypto investor. “But we’re still in the storm now.”
The Glassnode data track clusters of Bitcoin wallets rather than individual traders, and can include large private investors, custodial firms and institution-linked accounts. Past rallies that went on to gather strength were typically marked by steadier accumulation and broader participation across investor types — something that remains notably absent in the current downturn.
