Bitcoin long-term holders added 800,000 BTC in a month, the highest ever recorded

Bitcoin long-term holders just locked in the biggest single-month accumulation ever recorded, grabbing 800,000 BTC in the span of 30 days, according to CryptoQuant.

That figure is the highest monthly net growth in coins sitting untouched for more than six months, meaning they’ve now officially crossed into Long-Term Holder (LTH) status.

And it’s not some bear-market bargain hunting either. These coins were bought when Bitcoin was trading between $95,000 and $107,000, with spot prices still holding above $100,000 today.

The term “LTH” can get tricky. It’s not about addresses, it’s about the coin age. The moment a coin stays put for over 180 days, it’s categorized as long-term. So this isn’t just whales parking coins. It’s about how long those coins sit there, untouched.

What we’re seeing now is a kind of quiet lock-in, with investors holding harder than they ever have before. This exact kind of accumulation spike has only shown up six times in Bitcoin’s 15-year history.

ETFs and dolphins buy as megawhales back off

Since May 9, Bitcoin has barely moved, sticking to a $10,000 range, even with a brief jump near $112,000, just above its previous high. That rally didn’t last. And it wasn’t for lack of interest. Over the last month, Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $3.5 billion across 12 straight trading sessions, making it their ninth week of inflows out of the last 11. But while the ETFs were stacking, the price barely moved. Why?

Markus Thielen, head of 10x Research, explained it bluntly: “There is this change of ownership happening. We are not seeing a lot of real demand right now because the demand has been almost perfectly offset by the selling from these larger wallets.” In other words, the big early holders — the megawhales — are selling. But they’re doing it slowly, waiting for institutions like ETFs and corporate treasuries to absorb the supply.

Julio Moreno, CryptoQuant’s research chief, said the real power buyers this year are wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC, a group CryptoQuant calls dolphins. ETFs likely fall into that bracket. These aren’t retail investors or megawhales.

They’re institutions spreading coins across many wallets. BlackRock, for example, operates around 550 wallets, averaging 1,290 BTC each. Strategy — the firm formerly known as MicroStrategy — controls 490 wallets, averaging 927 BTC each, based on 10x Research’s breakdown.

Despite looking like mid-sized holders, these companies have stacked thousands of Bitcoin through their network of smaller wallets. Julio said, “In reality, these entities are in fact large holders, having purchased thousands of Bitcoin.”

Chinese miners sit on five million coins as whales manage exit

Meanwhile, the biggest Bitcoin holders ever, the early Chinese mining operations, are still in the picture. Between 2013 and 2021, China controlled up to 75% of the global hashrate, creating as much as 15 million BTC. Today, they still sit on at least five million of those coins. In every previous bull run, those dormant wallets would start dumping onto exchanges. Not this time.

Thielen pointed out that these older wallets are only letting go of what ETFs and companies like Strategy are ready to take. “This time, so far, it seems that these wallets are holding – holding tight and only releasing as many Bitcoins as can be scooped up by ETFs and by Strategy,” he said.

Still, not everyone’s buying like they were in 2024. Strategy has slowed its acquisition pace, thanks to tighter stock premiums and more competition from other companies moving Bitcoin onto their balance sheets. They’re still the biggest public buyer, but they’re not pushing as hard right now.

The whale cohorts — wallets holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC — and the megawhales holding more than that, have been net sellers in 2025. Retail wallets, those with less than 1 BTC, are also offloading. But as long as the dolphins keep buying faster than the whales sell, the market holds steady. If that flips, things stall out.

“The imbalance creates a slight bearish bias,” Thielen said. “Making a breakout unlikely without a clear shift in our tactical flow indicator. Until that signal improves, consolidation is expected to continue.”

KEY Difference Wire helps crypto brands break through and dominate headlines fast