Major Bitcoin Holders Resume Buying Pattern at $71K Price Level: Santiment Data
According to Santiment, the renewed trend of whale accumulation in Bitcoin represents a "positive reversal," with the analytics platform monitoring retail investor behavior to validate a possible bottom formation.
Wallets containing substantial amounts of Bitcoin have resumed increasing their positions as the digital asset maintains a price level near $71,000, based on findings from cryptocurrency sentiment analytics platform Santiment.
"Their recent shift to accumulation is a bullish signal," Santiment stated in a weekend report published on Saturday, making specific reference to addresses containing anywhere from 10 to 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC).
"This is a positive reversal," Santiment further noted. According to information tracked by Santiment, addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) currently possess 68.17% of the total Bitcoin supply in circulation, representing an increase from the 68.07% level recorded one week prior.
Santiment eyeing retail investor activity
According to Santiment's analysis, a potential local price bottom for Bitcoin might be taking shape if major holders persist in their accumulation activities while the proportion of holdings controlled by smaller retail investors starts to decrease.
"Ideally, we want to see small wallets (retail) drop while this group rises, signaling a transfer of coins from weak hands to strong hands," Santiment
Rising retail purchasing activity typically indicates excessive optimism in the market, given that Bitcoin's historical price bottoms have occurred when ordinary investors begin to lose confidence and liquidate their positions.
Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index remained positioned in "Extreme Fear" territory on Sunday with a reading of 16, indicating that market participants continue to exercise caution.
At the time of this report's publication, Bitcoin is changing hands at $71,350, representing a gain of 6.30% throughout the preceding seven-day period.
Little more than one week in the past, the behavior of Bitcoin whales presented a dramatically different picture. On Mar. 6, Santiment published data showing that during the preceding two-day window, large holders had liquidated 66% of the Bitcoin they had accumulated during the period spanning Feb. 23 through Mar. 3, coinciding with Bitcoin's climb above $70,000 and its momentary touch of the $74,000 level.
Market bottom still uncertain
Nonetheless, Santiment cautioned that continued purchasing activity from retail investors in Bitcoin could signal additional downward price movement on the horizon.
"Historically, markets tend to bottom when the 'crowd' loses hope. The persistence of retail optimism is currently the biggest argument against a confirmed bottom," Santiment
"Markets rarely reward the majority consensus immediately," Santiment further commented.
Onchain Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo expressed a comparable perspective, stating recently that Bitcoin remains "solidly in the middle of its bear market through a lens of long-range liquidity."
These developments come at a time when United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their first consecutive five-day period of positive inflows for 2026, accumulating approximately $767.32 million during this week.