Whales Selling Behavior Could Mean It’s Late in the Cycle

The recent wave of Bitcoin whale selling pressure is typical of the late phase of the crypto cycle and shouldn’t be any more worrisome than in the past, according to analysts at Glassnode.

On Thursday, a large bitcoin whale, identified as trader Owen Gunden, made moves to sell and transferred 2,400 bitcoins (BTC), valued at $237 million, on the Kraken crypto exchange, according to to the blockchain analytics platform Arkham.

It adds to the recent flood of Bitcoin whales ostensibly a move away from cryptocurrency.

However, Glassnode analysts said the data shows that stories like “OG Whales Dumping” or “Bitcoin’s Silent IPO” are actually more nuanced.

Monthly average spending by long-term holders suggests that inflows have increased 12,000 bitcoins per day in early July to about 26,000 on Thursday, Glassnode he saidwhich points to a regularly and evenly spaced distribution, not “specifically OG dumping, but normal bull market behavior”.

“This steady growth reflects increasing distribution pressure from older cohorts of investors – a typical late-cycle profit-taking pattern, not a sudden exodus of whales.”

“Long-term holders are realizing profits during this cycle, as they have in every previous one,” Glassnode added.

The crypto market hasn’t peaked yet: Kronos Research

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at quantitative trading firm Kronos Research, told Cointelegraph that whale sales are a structured flow of a cycle, and steady profit rotation, rather than panic, often indicates a late-cycle phase along with rising realized profits and resilient liquidity.

However, Liu said this “late cycle” phase does not necessarily mean the market has peaked if there are buyers to pick up the new offering.