Large cryptocurrency holders have diverged sharply during the latest market slide, according to on-chain data highlighted by analyst Ali Martinez, known as Ali Charts. Bitcoin whales sold more than 34,000 BTC over the past week—worth roughly $2.6 billion—as the price fell from about $79,000 to under $73,000. That selling left large Bitcoin holders with approximately 5.24 million BTC, or 26% of the circulating supply.
Ethereum whales also reduced exposure, offloading about 17,800 ETH valued near $40 million. ETH briefly threatened the psychologically important $2,000 level and was trading around $2,060 at the time of reporting. Market watchers warned that a decisive breakdown could accelerate losses, with one trader noting, “This is a major support zone for Ethereum, and losing this would be brutal.”
XRP whales moved in the opposite direction. Large XRP addresses accumulated approximately 65.32 million XRP over four days, worth nearly $72 million, pushing their total holdings back above 4 billion tokens. This accumulation provided a relative bright spot even as spot XRP ETFs recorded outflows over the previous two sessions and ended the prior week in negative territory.
Santiment data underscored the bearish mood across social platforms including X, Reddit, and Telegram. Sentiment ratios came in at 0.82 for Bitcoin, 0.88 for Ethereum, and 0.49 for XRP, meaning bearish commentary outweighed bullish discussions for all three assets. Santiment noted that such persistent pessimism can sometimes set the stage for a strong relief rally, though broader market weakness remains a key risk.
