Bitcoin’s Fate Now Controlled by New Whales Cashing Out - Profit-Taking Dominates Market Direction

New whale investors are steering Bitcoin's trajectory as profit-taking becomes the dominant market force.

The Changing of the Guard

Fresh capital from recent entrants is now calling the shots - and they're not shy about locking in gains. While traditional hodlers maintain their positions, these new market movers show zero sentimentality when it comes to taking money off the table.

Profit Over Passion

The landscape has shifted from true believers to tactical traders. These whales treat Bitcoin like any other asset class - buy low, sell high, repeat. Their cold calculus is reshaping market dynamics faster than you can say 'number go up.'

Market makers used to talk about adoption and technology. Now they're just watching whale wallets - the ultimate case of following the money in an industry that supposedly hates traditional finance. How very Wall Street of them.

Based on the Net Unrealized Profit and Loss, BTC is still trading with a positive sentiment of long-term belief. During the 2025 cycle, the metric has not even touched the euphoria range, as trading is much more strategic, with the presence of institutions and treasury buying. 

The exuberance and chaos of previous cycles is not present in 2025, despite the higher valuations and BTC records. 

New wallets take over Bitcoin

The recent BTC rally boosted activity in a new wave of whale wallets. New whales were more active in all of 2025, this time preferring to realize gains. While BTC volatility was low, whales still wanted to avoid the drawdowns. 

Despite the whale selling, drawdowns during the 2025 cycle rarely exceeded 25% and were mostly driven by derivative trading. 

According to analysts, BTC was in a mature speculative stage, supported by inflows of liquidity and new sources of capital inflows. 

Over the past few months, wallets with 100 to 1,000 BTC are still the most significant source of accumulation. The current shift to new whales may translate into a holding wave, as some of the wallets mature. 

BTC starts recovery after record liquidations

BTC is starting a recovery following last weekend’s peak liquidations. Open interest hovers around $34B, still taking time to rebuild the recent liquidated positions. BTC open interest on Hyperliquid is down to $2.43B, from a recent level of over $4.6B. 

In the short term, BTC regained some of its price positions, jumping to $113,257. The crypto fear and greed index is still pointing to a fearful trading sentiment. 

The recent liquidation heatmap shows positions in a tight range, with short traders opening positions as low as $114,000. On the downside, long positions are in the $111,000 range. As the market remains jittery, another crash to that level is still possible.

BTC is currently poised between those liquidatable positions, as whales rebuild their bets on a market direction. 

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