Bitcoin: How a $172M whale dump is pressuring BTC price

Bitcoin’s [BTC] downside spiral continued, failing to hold the $70k level and reaching a local low of $ 66,529. At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $66,975, down 3.11% on the daily charts, adding to its 12.61% weekly decline. 

Amid this continued weakness, some whales have capitulated and started to close positions.

Bitcoin whale offloads $172.56M in BTC

Since Bitcoin was rejected at $97k, it has experienced sustained selling pressure, particularly from whales. Whale sell-side pressure to price has hovered between 10% and 3%, indicating strong negative pressure every time whales offloaded. 

Amid this increased sales-side activity, Lookonchain reported a whale transaction. According to the on-chain monitor, a whale deposited 2.5k BTC, valued at $172.56 million, into Binance.

Two weeks ago, the whale began accumulating Bitcoin when prices hovered around $81,000, with the most recent purchase occurring just 13 hours ago at press time.

After BTC slipped below $70,000 again, the whale sold off holdings to limit losses, an indication of waning market confidence.

What’s more troubling is that this whale wasn’t alone. The combined exchange balance of whales and megawhales fell from 63,000 BTC a week ago, though it remains elevated.

Checkonchain data showed that these two groups offloaded 37k BTC over the past day, reflecting higher sell-side activity. 

Usually, when whales keep offloading during a downtrend, it signals bearishness and an attempt to avoid further losses.

Is a drop towards $62k inevitable?

Bitcoin has faced strong downside pressure as investors, especially whales, have been selling. Whale sell pressure has further strained the market.

Moreover, sellers have largely dominated the market. Looking at the seller’s strength, it surged to 93 as of writing, while buyers held at -7.

This implies that buyers have been overwhelmed and that sellers have taken complete control of the market. As such, prevailing demand remains insufficient to sustain an upward movement.

Moreover, exchange activity echoed this seller dominance, especially on the daily charts. According to CryptoQuant, Exchange Netflow rose to 1.3k BTC, with Inflows hitting 6.6k BTC at press time.

A positive Netflow indicated more investors moved their assets to exchanges, a clear sign of aggressive spot selling. Often, higher inflows have accelerated downside momentum, leading to lower prices, as recently witnessed.

In fact, the downside momentum has further strengthened, as evidenced by the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which stood within an oversold zone at 29.9, suggesting massive sell-side pressure.

When momentum indicators reach such levels, they signal the trend’s strength and its potential to continue. Therefore, if sell pressure, especially from whales, persists, Bitcoin could drop to $62k again.

For a significant trend reversal, Bitcoin bulls need to reclaim $72k and flip $80k, until these levels are reached, downside risk remains elevated.

Final Thoughts

• A Bitcoin whale panic sold 2500 BTC worth $172.56 million.  
• BTC failed to hold  $70k, dropped to a low of $66,529, then rebounded to $66,975 at press time.