Whales Gobble 140K BTC in 14 Days – Why Retail Investors Are Sitting This One Out

Bitcoin's big players just went on a $6 billion shopping spree—while Main Street watches from the sidelines.

The quiet accumulation signals institutional conviction, but where's the retail frenzy? Traders aren't biting despite the whale activity, creating a curious divergence in market behavior.

Meanwhile, Wall Street's latest 'groundbreaking crypto product' is just a repackaged futures ETF with 2% fees. Some innovation.

In brief

• Within 15 days, new investors accumulated 140,000 BTC, according to on-chain data from Glassnode.
• This wave of purchases was concentrated around the thresholds of 116,000 to 118,000 dollars, nearly 23 billion dollars injected.
• This accumulation occurs while the average cost of short-term holders exceeds 100,000 dollars for the first time.
• Despite these impressive figures, public interest remains low, as indicated by data from Google Trends.

A new wave of buyers between discretion and intensity

While the creator of bitcoin becomes the 11th richest person in the world, newcomers to the flagship crypto market have significantly intensified their purchases over the first two weeks of the month, according to data published by Glassnode on July 11.

“Over the past two weeks, the supply held by first-time BTC buyers increased by +2.86 %, rising from 4.77 million to 4.91 million BTC”, specifies the on-chain analytics firm in a post on the social network X.

Over the past two weeks, the supply held by first-time $BTC buyers ROSE by +2.86%, climbing from 4.77M to 4.91M #BTC. Fresh capital continues to enter the market, supporting the latest price breakout. pic.twitter.com/W95HSAMaHI

This figure is equivalent to a net injection of 140,000 BTC into new entrants’ wallets, at a time when the Bitcoin price crossed the symbolic threshold of 123,000 dollars. This movement is interpreted by some analysts as an early manifestation of the well-known “FOMO” phenomenon, or fear of missing out.

The Glassnode platform specifies that this accumulation was not random but at precise price levels where investor conviction appears to have crystallized. Among the most notable elements :

• 196,600 BTC were acquired in a narrow price range between $116,000 and $118,000, representing an injection of more than 23 billion dollars ;
• This accumulation zone corresponds to a level close to the local top, often interpreted as a strong confidence signal ;
• It involves exclusively wallets that had never held BTC before ;
• This rise comes while the average cost of short-term holders is now above $100,000, according to Glassnode historical data, a first in bitcoin’s history.

Cost Basis Heatmap shows investors stepped in aggressively on the dip – accumulating ~196.6K $BTC between $116K–$118K. That’s over $23B in value added NEAR the local top, signaling strong conviction and possible positioning for further upside: https://t.co/ozU9fWAvJn pic.twitter.com/S3cGYCN5DY

This accumulation sequence, as discreet as it is intense, shows that newcomers are not afraid of the current market highs. On the contrary, they seem to engage with determination, suggesting a bullish reading of the market in the medium term.

A FOMO without collective enthusiasm ?

Despite this significant accumulation dynamic, signals of popular enthusiasm remain surprisingly weak. Google Trends data indeed show a modest increase in searches for the term “bitcoin” over the past two weeks, but this resurgence remains well below the historical peaks observed during previous cycles.

Mainstream interest in BTC remains comparatively moderate. This means that despite price records, the bulk of non-specialized investors does not yet seem to have awakened.

At the same time, another dynamic is emerging on social networks and online communities: the shift of interest towards altcoins, particularly Ethereum. According to the analysis by Santiment “with ethereum leading, a strong increase in social mentions for many altcoins and higher price targets is observed”.

📊 With Ethereum leading the way, there has been a huge jump in social media mentions of many altcoins and higher price targets. With Monday's Bitcoin all-time high leading to mass retail FOMO leading to the top, the mass FOMO has shifted to Ethereum today (with $4K+ price calls… pic.twitter.com/qtDAAhQvw1

The most striking example is ETH, whose calls for a price above 4,000 dollars have multiplied on X, Reddit, and Telegram. This shift in attention could suggest that retail investors are already looking for the next opportunity, believing that the bitcoin train has passed or become too expensive.

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