Bitcoin Holders Split in Two as Retail Leaves and Smart Money Keeps Buying

Bitcoin (BTC) holders are pulling apart, with non-empty wallets down about 108,700 since October 16, Santiment data shows. Meanwhile, smart money wallets added over 14,200 BTC in the past two weeks.

The split comes with BTC at $74,507, down 9.86% from a month ago, per BeInCrypto Markets. That sits below the roughly $75,700 average cost of recent buyers.

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Retail Thins Out as Bitcoin Slips Below $75,000

Santiment counted 59.99 million non-empty Bitcoin wallets on October 16, just short of 60 million. The total has fallen since then as the price slid.

However, a lower wallet count does not always mean fewer investors. Long downturns often push small traders to combine or empty wallets, Santiment noted.

“That type of retail capitulation has historically been a necessary ingredient before many major crypto recoveries,” the post read.

On the other side, wallets holding 1 to 10 BTC added 10,076 BTC in two weeks. The 10 to 100 BTC tier picked up another 4,131 BTC, Santiment data shows.

Their buying, however, runs into a larger seller in Wall Street’s spot funds. 

Smart Money Buys, but Wall Street Funds Keep Selling

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) moved the opposite way. They lost a net $2.13 billion over seven trading days from October 30, SoSoValue data shows.

Six of those sessions ended in outflows, including a $643.3 million exit on October 30. That was the largest daily outflow since June 25.

At current prices, the 14,200 BTC added by smart money wallets is worth about $1.06 billion. ETF outflows have roughly doubled that.

Can Bitcoin Hold $75,000 Where $79,000 Gave Way?

Santiment’s bullish case needs BTC to hold $74,000 to $75,000 while wallet counts keep falling. A reclaim of $78,000 to $80,000 would strengthen it, the firm said.

“Exchange supply is also down near 1.28M BTC, so a reclaim of $78K to $80K alongside continued retail capitulation would strengthen the case that sellers are becoming exhausted at the perfect time that savvy traders are accumulating,” it added.

That test follows a failed one. In October, the firm tied its bottom read to $79,000, and the BTC price fell through that level within days.

Downside risk also sits close, since BTC briefly touched $73,708 on November 8, its lowest level since August.

Santiment said the signal weakens if price breaks recent lows and smart money wallets start selling. With ETF outflows running at about double their purchases, the $75,000 test may hinge on whether fund selling slows.

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