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Large holders are buying. Hard. Bitcoin whales — excluding exchanges and mining pools — have pushed their collective stash from roughly 2.87 million BTC in December 2025 to approximately 3.06 million BTC today, per CryptoQuant’s latest Smart Money report. That’s around 190,000 Bitcoin quietly absorbed while retail traders were busy panic-selling every dip below $60,000.
The accumulation picked up speed after Bitcoin fell under $60,000 in June. That price drop, which rattled a lot of smaller investors, seems to have been a buying signal for the big money. CryptoQuant tracks these wallets separately from exchange cold storage and mining pool reserves, so the numbers probably reflect genuine long-term positioning rather than operational balances. Whether that’s smart or just early is still unclear — but the scale is hard to ignore.
Ethereum and XRP Whales Move Differently
Ethereum’s whale picture is a bit more interesting. Wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH have reached a record 19.6 million ETH combined. On top of that, wallets with over 100,000 ETH added roughly 1.8 million ETH since mid-2025. So across both tiers, Ethereum’s largest holders have been stacking steadily. And they’re doing it while ETH trades below its realized price — currently around $1,858 against a realized price of approximately $2,450. Basically, the average on-chain cost basis for Ethereum holders is higher than where the token trades right now. That’s a loss position for most of the market, which historically tends to show up near cycle lows.
Bitcoin’s situation looks different. It’s trading at $63,935, sitting above its realized price of $52,900. So the average holder is technically in profit. That gap between market price and realized price can mean different things depending on who you ask, but CryptoQuant reads it as a sign of resilience rather than exhaustion.
XRP is its own story. The token is trading around $1.10 to $1.20, against a realized price of about $0.75 — meaning most XRP holders are sitting on gains. But the 90-day taker cumulative volume delta is neutral, which suggests large buyers aren’t aggressively hitting the ask. They’re absorbing supply passively. Average spot order sizes still fall into what CryptoQuant calls the “big whale” category, so the money is there. It’s just not in a rush.
What the Realized Price Numbers Actually Mean
CryptoQuant puts a lot of weight on realized price as a bottoming metric. The logic is pretty straightforward: when an asset trades below the average price at which coins last moved on-chain, a large chunk of the market is underwater. That kind of widespread loss tends to flush out weaker hands. Once selling pressure from those holders dries up, prices can stabilize or recover.
Ethereum fits that pattern right now. Bitcoin doesn’t quite — it’s above realized price — but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to further downside. CryptoQuant was clear about that. The firm said caution is still warranted, and the potential for more price drops hasn’t gone away.
Other researchers are seeing similar signals. 10x Research said Bitcoin might confirm a bear market bottom if it closes a full month above $63,000. That level is close to where BTC sits right now, so the next few weeks matter. K33, in a July report, noted that Bitcoin often hits cycle lows shortly after more than half of its circulating supply is held at a loss. That threshold has been approached before in previous cycles, and it’s worth watching again.
None of these signals are guarantees. Bear markets can grind lower for longer than anyone expects, and whale accumulation doesn’t automatically mean prices are about to reverse. Big holders can be wrong. They can also be early by months.
Supply Squeeze and What Comes Next
When whales accumulate at this scale, the floating supply of an asset tends to shrink. Fewer coins available on exchanges means less liquidity for sellers to push prices down aggressively — but it also means thinner order books, which can cut both ways. A sudden wave of selling from a different cohort can still move prices sharply.
Still, the pattern CryptoQuant is tracking across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP at the same time isn’t something that happens every week. Three major assets, all showing large-holder accumulation, all while broader market sentiment stays cautious — that’s a setup worth paying attention to. Whether it resolves bullishly or not, the positioning is real.
CryptoQuant’s Smart Money report didn’t give a specific timeline for when a confirmed bottom might arrive. No details on that. What it did say is that the accumulation pattern, combined with realized price metrics, gives a clearer picture of where the market stands than raw price charts alone.
Bitcoin at $63,935. Ethereum at $1,858. XRP between $1.10 and $1.20. Those are the numbers on the table right now.
Hub: XRP price, news, and analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
How much Bitcoin have whales accumulated since December 2025?
Bitcoin whale holdings, excluding exchanges and mining pools, rose from about 2.87 million BTC in December 2025 to approximately 3.06 million BTC, an increase of roughly 190,000 BTC, per CryptoQuant.
Is Ethereum trading above or below its realized price?
Ethereum is currently trading at $1,858, which is below its realized price of approximately $2,450, meaning the average on-chain holder is sitting at a loss.
