Bitcoin Whale Wallets Reduce Holdings as Mid-Sized Cohorts Buy

Bitcoin’s largest wallet holders kept reducing their holdings in the week ending November 9, 2026, even as a narrower group of mid-sized holders stepped in to buy, according to on-chain data from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode. The divergence highlights a split inside the Bitcoin market: some buyers are picking up coins at current prices while broader capital continues to flow out.

Key Takeaways

• Glassnode identified wallets holding between 100 and 10,000 BTC as cohorts adding coins during the week to November 9.
• Glassnode reported reductions among other wallet groups, including the very largest holders above 10,000 BTC and small holders below 1 BTC.
• Wallet balance changes alone do not confirm buying or selling; transfers between wallets, custody moves, and exchange deposits can all shift a wallet’s balance without a market sale taking place.

Bitcoin’s Largest Wallets Continued to Reduce Holdings

Glassnode tracks wallet-cohort behavior using an Accumulation Trend Score, a seven-day measure that runs from 0 (distributing) to 1 (accumulating). In its Week 45, 2026 report, Glassnode found that wallets holding above 10,000 BTC scored below 0.5, placing them in the reducing category for the period. Smaller wallets, including those holding under 1 BTC, were also still reducing their balances. For related coverage, see Bitcoin ETFs Bled 77,000 BTC in One Quarter as Retail Investors Exit.

The largest Bitcoin wallets, sometimes called whales, hold enough coins that even modest shifts in their behavior can affect exchange supply. When these addresses move coins onto exchanges, it can increase available sell-side supply. That said, Glassnode’s score reflects net balance changes across the cohort, and those changes may include custody transfers or internal wallet reorganizations rather than outright sales. Context on this theme: Top Crypto News Today, July 2: Bitcoin Selling vs Holder Buying.

This kind of large-holder behavior has appeared before. Earlier data showed that whale wallets absorbed 270,000 BTC as ETFs saw $7 billion in outflows, illustrating how the relationship between the largest holders and institutional flows can shift quickly. More on this in Five Entities Hold Nearly 22% of Bitcoin Supply, Data Shows.

Why Accumulation by 100–10,000 BTC Holders Matters

While the biggest wallets reduced holdings, two cohorts in the middle of the size spectrum were net buyers. Wallets holding 100 to 1,000 BTC and those holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC both scored above 0.5 on Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score, putting them in accumulation territory for the week to November 9. Glassnode described this as “early dip buying from a narrow group.”

It is worth understanding who these holders are. A wallet with 100 BTC holds roughly $7.4 million worth of Bitcoin at current prices. A wallet with 10,000 BTC holds around $737 million. These are substantial positions, but they sit below the ultra-large custodians and exchange cold wallets that dominate the top tier. Glassnode noted that this same pair of cohorts briefly shifted to buying in late September 2026, but that episode did not last.

Different wallet cohorts acting in opposite directions at the same moment is not unusual in Bitcoin markets. Longer-term holders and shorter-term traders often respond to price moves differently. The accumulation signal from these two mid-sized cohorts is one on-chain input; it does not, by itself, indicate where price will go next.

For further context on how holder behavior shifts around major price moves, an earlier report tracked how Bitcoin supply tightened as exchange reserves fell, a pattern that sometimes precedes reduced selling pressure.

Capital Is Still Leaving the Bitcoin Ecosystem

The mid-sized accumulation is happening against a backdrop of broader capital withdrawal. According to Bloomingbit, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which are funds that let investors buy Bitcoin exposure through traditional brokerage accounts, recorded $1.6 billion in net outflows across 20 trading sessions through November 9. That means investors pulled a net $1.6 billion out of these funds over roughly four weeks of trading. Prior reporting tracked how Bitcoin ETFs bled 77,000 BTC in a single quarter as retail investors exited, and the latest data continues that trend.

Stablecoin supply, a proxy for cash sitting on the sidelines ready to be deployed into crypto, shrank by $14.2 billion over the 30 days through November 9, Glassnode reported. The firm described that as the fastest contraction since June 2022. When stablecoin supply shrinks, it typically means investors are moving cash out of the crypto ecosystem entirely rather than waiting to reinvest.

Glassnode framed the broader market as “running on empty,” with capital leaving through three channels at once: stablecoin withdrawals, ETF redemptions, and reduced buying from U.S.-based participants. The mid-sized whale accumulation is real, but it is operating against that outflow backdrop.

Where Bitcoin’s Price Stands and What the Order Book Shows

Bitcoin was trading near $73,766 at the time of reporting, down 8.38% over seven days according to CoinGecko. That price sits below the $75,600 level that Glassnode identifies as the average cost basis for short-term holders, meaning investors who bought Bitcoin within the last several months. With price below that level, approximately 65% of short-term holder supply was underwater as of the report date, Bloomingbit noted.

On the order book side, Glassnode’s report found that buy orders had outweighed sell orders every hour within 5% of the spot price since November 5. The largest concentration of bid support sits in the $68,000 to $72,500 range. Overhead, sell orders clustered near $83,600 could limit any recovery attempt. Meanwhile, open interest in Bitcoin derivatives markets rebuilt to September 2026 high levels even as price fell roughly 15%, a pattern that Glassnode said suggests net short positioning rather than fresh long exposure.

For anyone holding a small amount of Bitcoin or thinking about their first purchase, the picture from this Glassnode report is a market split in two. A specific slice of mid-sized holders is treating current prices as an opportunity. But the broader flow of money, measured through ETF redemptions, stablecoin withdrawals, and large-wallet balance reductions, is still moving out rather than in. The concentration of Bitcoin supply among a small number of large entities means that when those top holders shift behavior, it can carry significant weight. Right now, that shift has not happened.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.