Bitcoin (BTC) sharks have accelerated their accumulation pace in 2026 after signaling conviction in 2025.
Entities with a balance of between 100 and 1,000 BTCs, the sharks, have aggressively purchased more Bitcoin amid retail capitulation during the past few weeks. Year-to-date (YTD), Bitcoin sharks have added 11% of their holdings to currently hold over 3.6 million BTCs, according to on-chain data from Glassnode, an on-chain analytics platform.
BTC shark net position change. Source: X
Bitcoin sharks have led whale investors, with an account balance of at least $1k, to aggressive accumulation in the recent past. YTD Bitcoin whales have turned bullish after a heavy capitulation during the fourth quarter of 2025.
BTC long-term holder supply. Source: X
The renewed demand for Bitcoin by sharks and whales has coincided with a significant decline in the low-volume BTC deposits into centralized exchanges. Historically, a rising supply of Bitcoin on CEXs has been associated with bearish sentiment and vice versa.
“Although global instability and the bear market are expected to persist, the low volume of deposits into exchanges validates the exhaustion of selling pressure in Bitcoin,” CryptoQuant, an on-chain data analytics provider, stated.
The notable Bitcoin accumulation from sharks and whales is potentially a lagging indicator of an imminent liquidity rotation from the precious metals industry led by Gold and Silver. Furthermore, BTC price has historically experienced parabolic growth after gold and silver topped out from their euphoric rallies.
Amid the renewed demand for Bitcoin by shark and whale investors, the flagship coin has signaled a potential market reversal. Since the beginning of this week, BTC price has rallied around 10% to trade above $72,000 for the first time in four weeks.
As such, crypto traders’ optimism for a strong market rebound has surged as revealed by the rising Open Interest (OI) for BTC and Ethereum (ETH).
BTC MVRV pricing bands. Source: X
However, BTC price is still trapped in a macro bear market akin to its 2022 fractal pattern, according to trading expert Ali Martinez. This analyst highlighted that the BTC price will likely find its bear market bottom between $54,559 and $43,647.
