Bitcoin Whales Reawaken in 2025: Billions Moved as Price Hits $126,000

Blockchain analysts observed a dramatic shift in long-term holder behavior in 2024–2025 as dormant Bitcoin wallets reactivated after 10–14 years of inactivity, moving billions of dollars worth of BTC during a run that saw prices touch $126,000. On-chain records and exchange flows indicate that a sequence of coordinated or coincidental large transfers redistributed supply into ETFs and corporate treasuries, altering market liquidity and testing multiple support and resistance levels.

The movement unfolded through three notable selling waves: a post-$100,000 distribution in late 2024 and early 2025, a second wave in July around the $108,000 region, and a massive November event culminating in an approximate 80,000 BTC dump. These waves created short-term volatility while ultimately allowing institutional channels such as ETF allocations and corporate treasury purchases to absorb large chunks of supply. As a result, demand dynamics balanced outgoing supply in key periods, preventing deeper drawdowns that might otherwise have followed such outsized sales.

On-chain metrics show a redistribution pattern where long-term holders—historically defined as wallets dormant for a decade or more—became net sellers during peak price windows. The transfers disproportionately favored custody entities connected to institutional products and corporate balance sheets, where coins were funneled into vehicles designed for long-term exposure rather than speculative flipping. The interplay between selling pressure from historically inactive wallets and sustained institutional demand helped set new short-term price ceilings and established renewed zones of support.

From a technical perspective, repeated sales around key psychological levels ($100K, $108K, and the post-dump consolidation near $126K) created layered resistance bands. Traders should watch volume profiles and order book depth at those levels: if institutional demand continues to absorb supply, these bands may flip from resistance to long-term support. Conversely, if another concentrated sell event hits before new liquidity participants enter, price could test lower structural supports formed earlier in the cycle.

Market participants must also account for liquidity timing. The conversion of large holdings into ETF exposure or corporate treasuries can reduce circulating supply over weeks to months, tightening available liquidity and amplifying upward moves if demand surges. However, the opposite is true when institutions rebalance or corporate treasuries decide to liquidate: concentrated sell-side actions can trigger cascading stops and rapid drawdowns. Monitoring custody inflows, ETF creation/redemption activity, and on-chain transfer patterns is therefore crucial for anticipating volatility.

Implications for traders and investors: short-term traders should map the newly established resistance and support bands and place risk-management tools accordingly. Swing traders and investors must consider the potential for continued institutional accumulation to provide a structural bid, while remaining aware of legacy holder behavior that can reintroduce large supply shocks. Long-term oriented holders may view repeated redistribution into institutional sleeves as bullish for scarcity, while active market participants should remain wary of concentrated liquidity events.

In summary, the reawakening of decade-old Bitcoin wallets in 2025, the multi-wave selling pattern, and the absorption of supply by ETFs and corporate treasuries represent a pivotal on-chain development. The event recalibrated market structure, created measurable resistance and support zones, and highlighted the increasing role of institutional channels in defining Bitcoin’s price trajectory.