Analytics firm CryptoQuant has highlighted how the 365-day trend of the Bitcoin whales signals structural selling pressure from large holders.
Bitcoin Whales Have Seen A Large Negative Yearly NetflowBecause of their position on the network, the behavior of the whales can often be worth keeping an eye on, as it may sometimes carry implications for the market. Even when it doesn’t, it can still be revealing about the sentiment among BTC’s most influential investors.
Now, here is the chart shared by CryptoQuant that shows the trend in the 1-year change in the Bitcoin whale supply, as well as its 365-day moving average (MA), over the last few years:
As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin whales saw a mostly positive 1-year change between late 2023 and mid-2025. In the back half of 2025, however, things began to change for these humongous entities, with their netflow slipping into the red zone.
After BTC saw its November drawdown, the whale netflow dropped to a highly negative value, reflecting aggressive distribution from the group. In 2026, the indicator initially saw recovery, with the February crash even coinciding with a change to slight net buying from the whales, but since then, its value has again plunged back into the negative territory.
Today, the 1-year change in the Bitcoin whale holdings is sitting at -188,000 BTC. Thus, it would appear that whales are participating in significant distribution. “This isn’t short-term,” noted the analytics firm. “The 365D trend is declining, signaling structural selling pressure.”
After all the bearish price action, these loss holders have two choices: either sell into relief rallies to minimize losses or risk capitulating on further drawdowns. Glassnode explained:
Resolving this overhang will likely require either a meaningful price discount to attract new buyers or an extended period of time for these coins to migrate from loss-realizing hands into more committed ownership.
BTC PriceBitcoin recovered above $69,000 on Wednesday, but the coin has already retraced this surge as it’s now back at $66,400.
