Share
Share this article
Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
Markets
Share
Share this article
Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
Small investors are buying bitcoin. For a ra
Markets
Share
Share this article
Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail
Small investors are buying bitcoin. For a ra
Small investors are buying bitcoin. For a rally to succeed, the whales need to join in.
Small investors are buying bitcoin. For a rally to succeed, the whales need to join in.
Small wallets have increased their BTC holdings by 2.5% since October's all-time high while large holders trimmed 0.8%, Santiment data shows.
By Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Sheldon Reback
Feb 21, 2026, 5:11 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
(iStock modified by CoinDesk)
What to know:
- Bitcoin wallets holding less than 0.1 BTC have increased their share of supply to the highest since mid-2024 even as the price holds around the mid-$60,000s.
- Larger holders with 10 to 10,000 bitcoins — the whales and sharks that typically drive major moves — have reduced their positions since the October peak.
- The divergence supports choppy, fragile price action because retail demand alone cannot sustain rallies when big wallets are distributing into every recovery.
For much of this month, bitcoin BTC$67,855.81 has been trading around the mid-$60,000s. That much is humdrum.
The interesting bit is a developing split in coin ownership that could shape what happens next.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Sign me up
Data from Santiment shows the number of wallets holding less than 0.1 BTC, a level typically associated with retail investors, has increased by 2.5% since the largest cryptocurrency hit a record high in October. The growth has pushed the so-called shrimps' share of supply to its highest since mid-2024.
In practice, though, it's the larger holders known as whales and sharks who tend to set the tone for price direction. Those investors, with wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC, went the other way, dropping about 0.8%.
It's the kind of split that tends to produce choppy, frustrating price action rather than clean trends.
Retail provides a floor and can spark short-term momentum. Rallies that stick require bigger players who are prepared to buy whatever's on offer.
The divergence is especially notable because the picture looked different just a few weeks ago.
After bitcoin cratered toward $60,000 on Feb. 5 — a drawdown of more than 50% from its October peak — Glassnode's Accumulation Trend Score climbed to 0.68, the strongest broad-based reading since late November, as CoinDesk reported earlier in the month.
Glassnode's metric measures the relative strength of accumulation across different wallet sizes by factoring in both entity size and the amount of BTC accumulated over the past 15 days. A score closer to 1 signals accumulation, while a score closer to 0 indicates distribution.
During the flash, the 10-to-100 BTC cohort was the most aggressive dip buyer, and the data suggested the market was shifting from capitulation into something more synchronized.
Santiment's wider lens complicates that reading. Its 10-to-10,000 BTC band captures a much broader slice of large holders than Glassnode's dip-buying cohort, and across that full range, net positioning since October is still negative.
One way to reconcile the two takes: mid-sized wallets may have genuinely bought the panic while the largest holders kept distributing into every recovery, dragging the aggregate number down.
It matters because bitcoin doesn't need retail to show up. Retail is already here.
What it needs is for the distribution from large wallets to stop, or better yet, reverse. Without that, every rally risks being sold into by the very cohort that needs to provide structural demand if it is to succeed.
The shrimps are doing their part. They are waiting for the whales join in.
Bitcoin News
More For You
Bitcoin shrugs off Trump's new tariffs, nears $68,000 as altcoins lead modest bounce
Crypto prices edged higher on Friday despite a splash of tariff turbulence after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Trump's levies illegal.
What to know:
- Bitcoin climbed toward $68,000 on Friday despite a fresh 10% global levy from Trump after the Supreme Court's pushback.
- The CoinDesk 20 Index rose 2.5%, with BNB, DOGE, ADA and SOL leading gains.
- One trader said that prices will likely stuck rangebound barring any macro shocks.
Read full story
Latest Crypto News
SEC makes quiet shift to brokers' stablecoin holdings that may pack big results
Bitcoin shrugs off Trump's new tariffs, nears $68,000 as altcoins lead modest bounce
Specialized AI detects 92% of real-world DeFi exploits
U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Trump's tariffs may not rock crypto — yet
Dubai takes next step to make real estate flips instant in $16 billion tokenization plan
RWA issuers prioritize capital formation over liquidity, according to Brickken survey
Top Stories
Goldman Sachs, Franklin Templeton, and Nicki Minaj: Inside Trump’s surreal Mar-a-Lago crypto summit
Bitcoin logs worst first 50-day start to a year on record
What next for XRP as volatility sinks to 2024 lows
Ripple's Brad Garlinghouse says CLARITY bill has '80% chance' of passing by April
Dual South Korean listings send Ethereum layer-2 token AZTEC surging 82%
Inside the meeting: White House favors some stablecoin rewards, tells banks it's time to move
Disclaimer: The articles reposted on this site are sourced from public platforms and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the views of MEXC. All rights remain with the original authors. If you believe any content infringes on third-party rights, please contact service@support.mexc.com for removal. MEXC makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content and is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided. The content does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice, nor should it be considered a recommendation or endorsement by MEXC.
You May Also Like
Cashing In On University Patents Means Giving Up On Our Innovation Future
The post Cashing In On University Patents Means Giving Up On Our Innovation Future appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. “It’s a raid on American innovation that would deliver pennies to the Treasury while kneecapping the very engine of our economic and medical progress,” writes Pipes. Getty Images Washington is addicted to taxing success. Now, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is floating a plan to skim half the patent earnings from inventions developed at universities with federal funding. It’s being sold as a way to shore up programs like Social Security. In reality, it’s a raid on American innovation that would deliver pennies to the Treasury while kneecapping the very engine of our economic and medical progress. Yes, taxpayer dollars support early-stage research. But the real payoff comes later—in the jobs created, cures discovered, and industries launched when universities and private industry turn those discoveries into real products. By comparison, the sums at stake in patent licensing are trivial. Universities collectively earn only about $3.6 billion annually in patent income—less than the federal government spends on Social Security in a single day. Even confiscating half would barely register against a $6 trillion federal budget. And yet the damage from such a policy would be anything but trivial. The true return on taxpayer investment isn’t in licensing checks sent to Washington, but in the downstream economic activity that federally supported research unleashes. Thanks to the bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, universities and private industry have powerful incentives to translate early-stage discoveries into real-world products. Before Bayh-Dole, the government hoarded patents from federally funded research, and fewer than 5% were ever licensed. Once universities could own and license their own inventions, innovation exploded. The result has been one of the best returns on investment in government history. Since 1996, university research has added nearly $2 trillion to U.S. industrial output, supported 6.5 million jobs, and launched more than 19,000 startups. Those companies pay…
Share
BitcoinEthereumNews2025/09/18 03:26
Spur Protocol Daily Quiz 21 February 2026: Claim Free Tokens and Boost Your Crypto Wallet
Spur Protocol Daily Quiz February 21 2026: Today’s Correct Answer and How to Earn Free In-App Tokens
The Spur Protocol Daily Quiz for February 21, 2026, is
Share
Hokanews2026/02/21 17:10
Alex Acosta Tells Congress He Has No ‘Remorse’ For Jeffrey Epstein ‘Sweetheart Deal,’ Lawmaker Says
The post Alex Acosta Tells Congress He Has No ‘Remorse’ For Jeffrey Epstein ‘Sweetheart Deal,’ Lawmaker Says appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Topline A central figure in the Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse saga—former prosecutor Alex Acosta, who granted in 2007 the former financier what’s been widely blasted as a “sweetheart deal” for his alleged crimes—has no regrets about the agreement, a Democratic lawmaker told CNN on Friday, as the former Trump official faces questioning from the House Oversight Committee. Alex Acosta, center, arrives for a House Oversight Committee deposition about Jeffrey Epstein on September 19 in Washington D.C. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Key Facts This story is breaking and will be updated. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/09/19/prosecutor-acosta-who-gave-epstein-sweetheart-deal-testifies-he-no-remorse-lawmaker-says/
Share
BitcoinEthereumNews2025/09/20 06:37