Over the past six days, whales controlling between 10,000 and 100,000 coins have dumped more than 30,000 Bitcoin (BTC), worth over $3.45 billion.
The sales triggered a pullback, causing the cryptocurrency to slip just barely above key support levels at $115,000.
Additional selling pressure is likewise coming from long-term holders, who have also begun cashing out and thus amplifying the downside potential, as per CryptoQuant data on August 19.
Bitcoin was trading at $115,553 at the time of writing, having seen a modest daily gain of 0.45% but still being down 2.5% on the weekly chart.
As things stand, the world’s largest cryptocurrency risks further losses if selling continues, as a drop below $115,000 could send the price toward $112,500, with a deeper slide potentially testing $110,000.
Further headwinds are generated by major Bitcoin ETF issuers trimming their holdings. For instance, Ark 21Shares offloaded 559.85 BTC, worth roughly $64.4 million, while BlackRock cut 490 BTC, valued at $68.7 million.
Though in and of themselves small relative to the funds’ overall portfolios, the moves are coming just as the “digital gold’s” dominance triggered a Death Cross, a technical signal often associated with capital rotation out of BTC.
Overall, the sales coincide with generally fragile crypto market conditions marked by weakening liquidity, so the question remains whether the recent moves are merely tactical rebalancing strategies driven by macroeconomic developments or more serious symptoms of changing institutional attitudes.
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