Bitcoin Whales Accumulate 800,000 BTC in June 2025, Prices Surge 10%

In the first half of 2025, the Bitcoin (BTC) market exhibited a notable trend of accumulation, with large holders, or "whales," preferring to hold onto their coins rather than distribute them. This behavior is reflected in the liveliness metric, which measures the ratio of coins spent versus those held and indicates on-chain activity. Unlike previous rallies, the current market has not seen significant coin distribution, suggesting a shift in investor sentiment towards long-term holding.

Since January 2025, the liveliness metric has pointed to a holding trend, with BTC prices fluctuating in a tight range, mostly above $100,000, and occasionally dipping to the $80,000 range. Even during market drawdowns, there has been no panic-selling, as retail investors had already liquidated their holdings during previous bull markets. This trend continued as BTC traded above $109,000 during the latest market recovery, later jumping to $110,360, on track to new all-time peaks.

The 2025 market cycle has also been characterized by a lack of deep corrections, with drawdowns rarely exceeding 25% of the market price. This has contributed to a shift in the perception of BTC, from a speculative asset to a store of value. Additionally, BTC transaction fees have indicated extremely low on-chain activity, ranging between $0.15 and $0.30, despite the price hovering near a new all-time high. During previous market rallies, transactions would pick up for BTC, often creating network congestion. This cycle, even near-record prices, rarely spikes on-chain activity.

At the same time, BTC has been accumulating into a new set of wallets, with the most rapid growth among wallets holding 100-1,000 and 1,000 to 10,000 BTC. This trend was especially clear in June, when whales accumulated a record 800,000 BTC in a single month. Almost all cohorts have shifted to holding, though short-term wallets sometimes distribute coins and tokens. Based on the holder heat map, all wallets aged six months or over have gradually increased their balances.

By the end of June 2025, around 62% of BTC had not moved for over 12 months. The current holding trend also comes from corporate buyers, who are buying new BTC almost daily, with the goal of holding for the long term. 2025, to date, has also shown much more lively inflows of BTC into accumulation addresses. BTC exchange reserves and OTC desks are getting depleted, while coins accumulate in whale wallets, including custodial services. At the same time, speculative trading mostly relies on perpetual futures, using stablecoin liquidity, with little demand for storing and sending BTC.