Crypto: New Bitcoin Whales Are Trapped Underwater, But For How Long?

The gap between new and old Bitcoin whales continues to widen as BTC trades below $68,000. Will young whales continue to accumulate, or will older whales capitulate first?

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price continued to consolidate near $68,000 on Tuesday, but sustained weakness below this level may generate additional sell pressure from the newest cohort of large holders.

While the long-term whales remain in profit, short-term whales are sitting on sizeable unrealized losses. One analyst highlighted how this pressure may impact BTC’s price, as other indicators point to a continued downtrend.

The short-term Bitcoin whales are sitting on net unrealized losses of 22% at current prices.

The Binance whale inflow ratio climbed to 0.62 from 0.4 in two weeks, signaling a rise in the large-holder deposits.

Long-term whales control 71% of the large-wallet supply and remain in profit above their realised price of $41,626.

Market analyst Carmelo Alemán noted that the wallets holding 1,000–10,000 BTC control 4.483 million BTC at the moment. 1.287 million BTC (28.7%) belongs to the short-term holder (STH) whales, while 3.196 million BTC (71.3%) sits with the long-term holder (LTH) whales.

The cost basis gap is significant. STH whales have a realized price of $88,494, carrying an unrealized loss of 22%. LTH whales hold a realized price of $41,626, maintaining a 65% in profit.

Alemán explained that this asymmetry shows the recent whale holders are under pressure while older capital retains a large cushion.

However, realized losses among STH whales have remained limited since Bitcoin’s all-time high of $126,000 in October 2025, reflecting resilience from the holders.

Source: CoinTelegraph