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Third Wave of Profit-Taking
Old Whales Also Surface to Cash Out
According to statistics from on-chain data analysis company CryptoQuant, by the end of July 2024, realized profits from Bitcoin surged to between 6 billion and 8 billion USD—levels comparable to the local peaks in March and December 2024. CryptoQuant pointed out that this wave of sell-off is led by “new whales,” who began taking profits after Bitcoin broke through the 120,000 USD mark. These new whales mainly refer to participants who have accumulated a significant amount of Bitcoin in recent years, which may include institutional investors or corporate entities. CryptoQuant stated that these new whales dominated the third phase of profit-taking in the current market cycle.
The first two waves occurred after the listing of the Bitcoin spot ETF in the United States and on the eve of President Trump’s inauguration. The market entered a cooling-off period after both phases. Furthermore, the cooling-off period in early 2025 escalated into a full-blown sell-off, triggered by a new round of tariff policies from the Trump administration, raising investor concerns about economic growth and inflation.
Despite this, since early April, Bitcoin and the overall cryptocurrency market have rebounded significantly, with Bitcoin even reaching a new historical high of over 123,000 USD in July.
Old Whales Also Surface to Cash Out
While CryptoQuant’s analysis focused on “new whales,” a long-dormant wallet that accumulated 80,000 Bitcoin during the Satoshi Nakamoto era recently took profits, realizing 9.7 billion USD in profits. According to previous reports, this transaction was executed in batches through Galaxy Digital and was spread across leading exchanges including Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, and Bitstamp. Although this sell-off action caused a short-term drop of 4% in Bitcoin, the market quickly rebounded, demonstrating that even in the face of such large-scale selling, market demand and absorption capacity remain strong.
