Whales Poop, Retail Swims: Bitcoin’s Tale of Two Wallets

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Key Highlights

  • The Great Whales have been tossing their BTC into the sea like it’s last week’s fish and chips, while The Little Fish are splashing in with buckets, hoarding coins since October 2025. A market drama where the plot twists involve spreadsheets.
  • Middle-sized wallets are playing a game of “I’ll sell if you sell first,” with smaller ones accumulating like squirrels hoarding acorns and bigger ones liquidating like a library burning down. Spoiler: The rally might need a bigger boat.
  • Bitcoin futures open interest? It’s gone from a party at the Grand Ankh to a ghost town. Forced selling is the new black, and momentum is wearing a clown suit.

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $67,786, a price so average it could be the middle ground between a loaf of bread and a moderately sized asteroid. The crypto market, meanwhile, is a $2.39 trillion circus with a 0.5% uptick in revenue and a 3.34% drop in audience participation. Go figure.

According to Santiment, wallets holding 10-10,000 BTC have been selling like it’s Black Friday at the apocalypse. Meanwhile, wallets with less than 0.1 BTC are accumulating like they’re preparing for a zombie uprising-or a really long winter. The moral of the story? When the whales say “Bye Felicia,” the retail crowd says “Let me grab a coffee and a bag of coins.”

📊 In a world where whales and shrimp coexist, the former are currently moonwalking off a bridge while the latter do the conga with their BTC. Here’s what the market oracle (a parrot trained to read charts) had to say:

🐳 “I sold my house, my dog, and my dignity to buy Bitcoin in October 2025. Regret it.” – Whale

🦐 “I bought $50 worth. It’s the most I’ve ever owned. I’m rich!” – Retailer

– Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 20, 2026

Mid-sized investors, those brave souls with 0.1-1 BTC, are like the indecisive guests at a party who brought both chips and a tent. Their balances hit a 15-month high, which is impressive if your idea of a high is a bar chart. Meanwhile, the 1-10 BTC crowd is selling like they’re clearing out the attic before the apocalypse arrives. Their 38-month low? A statistic so grim it makes a Dickens character weep into his cravat.

This dichotomy suggests a market where the big players are packing their bags and the little ones are still dancing in the aisles. But here’s the rub: Without whale money, Bitcoin’s rally is like a disco ball in a blackout. It might sparkle, but no one can see it. Market cycles, as per the ancient scrolls of crypto, require institutional investors to be the lead singer, not the choir.

Market Cycles and Futures Activity: A Tragicomedy

Bitcoin’s price has been following futures activity like a lost tourist with a broken compass. From 2023 to 2025, open interest was a bloated goose laying golden eggs-until it realized the eggs were made of glitter and regret. At its peak, the derivatives market was so overconfident, it probably bet on the weather in Ankh-Morpork.

But then came late 2025 and early 2026, when open interest plummeted from $45 billion to $21.6 billion like a jaded investor at a family reunion. Leveraged positions unwound faster than a poorly tied shoelace, and Bitcoin’s price slid from six-figure glory to the mid-$60k range. Forced selling? More like forced therapy for the market’s ego.

Price Action and Technical Signals: A Shakespearean Drama

The TradingView chart on a one-day timeframe tells a tale of hubris and humility. In October 2025, Bitcoin broke above $120,000 like it was breaking a speed limit, only to retreat like a tourist realizing they forgot their passport. By December, prices were making lower highs and lower lows, a technical analysis of despair. January 2026? A brief rebound to $95k, only for resistance to say, “Nice try, kid.” February then delivered a final punchline, sending BTC to the $60k floor.

Volume indicators are now as exciting as a tax audit. The On-Balance Volume is declining like a comedian’s punchlines, and the Accumulation/Distribution line has plummeted so hard it’s probably writing a memoir. In short, the market is less “bull run” and more “bull in a china shop with a grudge.”

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2026-02-20 11:52