Whale movements continue to dictate the price of Bitcoin and market sentiment, according to on-chain data, exchange in/out flows, and accumulation/distribution. In this report, we investigate recent price moves in BTC, ETH, and SOL catalyzed by whales, reinforced by evidence and sample cases, and discuss their implications on Bitcoin price, Ethereum price, and Solana price.
Crypto whales are wallets or individuals that hold large amounts of BTC, usually more than 1,000 BTC, 10,000 ETH, or 100,000 SOL. Their big trades can drive liquidity, generate volatility, or stabilize prices, and have a huge impact on the market. On-chain analysis from platforms such as Glassnode, CryptoQuant, and Lookonchain reveals insight into their behavior, hinting at future prices.
Market Influence
Whale trades can form buy or sell walls that influence price momentum. These walls often act as psychological thresholds for other market participants. For example, a large buy wall can create the impression of strong support at a specific price level, discouraging sellers from pushing the price lower and encouraging buyers to enter before a perceived surge. Conversely, a large sell wall might signal resistance and prompt traders to offload their holdings before a decline. These intentional or unintentional barriers introduced by whale activity can skew market behavior, delay breakouts, or even trigger sudden reversals.
Sentiment Indicators
Accumulation often indicates that savvy investors or large entities—sometimes referred to as "smart money"—are quietly buying assets with the expectation of future price increases. This behavior typically reflects growing bullish sentiment in the market. When whales or institutions accumulate, they often do so during periods of relative quiet, which can precede major upward moves. It's a subtle but powerful vote of confidence in the asset's future performance.
On the flip side, distribution suggests the opposite. It can mean investors are offloading their holdings either because they believe the asset has reached a local top or because they want to lock in profits. In some cases, distribution may also hint at incoming bearish momentum or broader market uncertainty. If multiple large wallets start selling in unison, it can trigger panic among retail traders, leading to a cascade of selling pressure.
Understanding the difference between these two behaviors—and recognizing them in on-chain data or exchange flow trends—can give traders a significant edge when it comes to anticipating market movements.
Data Dive Into the Exchange
Exchange flows and wallet actions show strategic moves. We see whale action in Bitcoin leading the way as of May 5, 2025, with downstream impact in terms of ripple sales into ETH and SOL. Here, we dissect their effects on individual assets, looking at price action and on-chain trends.
Bitcoin: Whale Activity Sustains Price Stability
Whale accumulation of Bitcoin (BTC) seems to be the only thing holding up the price of the top cryptocurrency by market cap. Bitcoin price is currently ranging between $95,000–$97,000 as of May 5, 2025, and is extremely resilient with only minimal drawdowns. Whale accumulation has been the name of the game, and big whales absorbed the supply and held sell pressure. This makes sense with the current bullish market mood, which is fueled by institutional adoption and ETF inflows ("investment" not "utilities") amplifying market sentiment.
Bitcoin Price Movements of Late
BTC tested $97,000 on May 2, 2025, after holding in the vicinity of $94,000, driven by stablecoin inflows and whale picking.
- The number of wallets holding more than 10,000 BTC began stockpiling, and now a total of over 100,000 BTC has been hoarded since March 2025, including an impressive offload of 12,500 BTC (~$1.2B at today’s prices) to a cold wallet on April 27, 2025.
- Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score for >10,000 BTC wallets sits near 0.95, indicating aggressive purchasing. Wallets containing 1,000–10,000 BTC rate ~0.7, also suggesting accumulation.
- CryptoQuant echoes stack fund that BTC outflows from exchanges increased 15% in April 2025, while reserves hit a 2-year low point, confirming HODLing.
- A whale bought 600 BTC (~$57M) through Wintermute OTC on April 27, 2025; funds outflowed to a private wallet, according to CryptoQuant.
- With exchange reserve data indicating a 10% drop since February 2025, this has matched price stability north of $95,000.
Accumulation vs. Distribution Patterns
Holders are in solid accumulation across the board, with the exception of very small holders (0.1–1 BTC) who are shifting back to accumulation (~0.65). Certain whales, such as one that acquired 309 BTC at $79,792, are staring at $5M unrealized gains and may want to take some profits.
A whale buying spree and falling wedge consolidation could lead to a possible breakout towards $99,000–$100,000, provided momentum can be sustained.
Ethereum: Whale Divergence and the Certainty of Price
The Ethereum (ETH) price has lagged, sitting around $1,842 at publishing time on May 5, 2025, down 47 percent in Q1 2025 but higher by 10 percent week-on-week. Whales are mixed with some accumulation and distribution, suggesting uncertainty with regard to where ETH is heading next in the short term.
Recent Ethereum Price Action
- ETH is up 10% this week to wipe out its 1-month loss but remains 26% below its March 2025 all-time high of $2,500.
- 30,000 ETH ($55M) was bought via Wintermute OTC by a whale on April 27, 2025, while another increased a short by 10,000 ETH ($18.4M).
- Since April 15, 2025, the holders of 1,000–10,000 ETH wallets increased from 5,432 to 5,460, according to Santiment, suggesting accumulation.
- ETH posted $183M in investment product inflows in early May 2025, ending an 8-week outflow streak, although high whale shorting drove exchange inflows.
- On May 1, 2025, a whale took out 4,000 ETH to increase an existing short position (putting added selling pressure on the market), per BeInCrypto.
- ETH/BTC is close to a possible bottom, so a bounce may be expected should selling by whales retract.
Accumulation vs. Distribution
Increasing staking deposits and growing whale wallets support long-term conviction in the ETH DeFi ecosystem—TVL at $52B.
Hedge funds winding down ETH basis trades in Q1 2025 caused falling prices, where short positions intensified the volatility.
Analysts point out that ETH’s price structure is similar to that seen by BTC in 2020, suggesting that its price could enter an explosive rally should whale accumulation outweigh increasing short interest.
Solana: Whales Taking Profits While DeFi Remains Resilient
On May 5, 2025, the Solana price was ~$145.38, 1.54% lower during the last 24 hours and 15% higher against Q1 2025’s low of $126.11. Whale sell-offs are creating volatility, but the growth of DeFi and institutional buying contribute to stability.
Recent Solana Price Movements
- Following a Q1 crash, SOL settled around $146.50 by May 2025, having topped at $264 back in November 2024.
- In March 2025, five whales disengaged from 5.52M SOL ($810M) and moved $516M to Coinbase Prime, indicating that profits were realized.
- Solana’s TVL increased 3.11% to $9.018B on April 20, 2025, indicating strong DeFi activity despite whale selling.
- Deposits of whales into Coinbase Prime ($516M SOL in March 2025) created additional sell pressure.
- In November 2024, one whale made a 100,000 SOL ($23.86M) withdrawal from Binance for staking, indicating selective accumulation.
- There was a slight influx ($96.27M) versus outflow ($88.36M) on April 20, 2025, that favored price stability around $145.
Since November 2024, 357,070 SOL ($87M profit) had been sold by a whale participating in price consolidation. Institutional inflows, such as DeFi Development Corp’s $24M SOL buy, increase long-term conviction. A cup-and-handle formation near $144.40 indicates that, if whale selling ends, a breakout above $180 is likely.
WhaleTracker: Cross-Asset Whale Trends and Their Market Effects
According to Glassnode, BTC whales (≥1,000 BTC) have decreased their holdings from 31,610.38 million BTC in May to 31,587.68 million BTC in June, while BTC in exchanges also showed a similar decline from 2,701.15 million BTC in May to 2,668.27 million BTC in June, which both fundamental/technical analysis strongly supported as a bearish trend.
- Bitcoin: Aggressive buying (>100,000 BTC since March) is holding the price up and supports a $99,000 breakout. Example wallet: “bc1q…xyz” (hypothetical).
- Ethereum: Mixed signals with 30,000 ETH long and 10,000 ETH short make for noise around $1,842. Sample wallet: “0x…abc” (hypothetical).
- Solana: Profit-taking (5.52M SOL sold) vs. institutional buying keeps SOL at $145 support. Sample wallet: “5Ey…123” (hypothetical).
Broader Market Trends
A whale made $9M+ from BTC, ETH, and SOL in April 2025, showcasing cross-asset gaming. BTC and SOL see net outflows, while ETH receives short-led inflows, according to The Block. ETF inflows ($3B in BTC in April) and institutional embrace are driving whale conviction.
These patterns underline whales’ potential to play a role in accentuating price action as they maneuver through market cycles. Their pileup in BTC and selective purchase in SOL are in contrast with the uncertainty of ETH and dictate the direction of the cryptocurrency market.
Risks of Whale-Driven Markets
Whales bring risks to retail traders, particularly in volatile markets. Panic selling can be triggered by large sell orders, such as SOL’s $516M deposit into Coinbase. ETH whale shorting intensified Q1 2025 losses, and BTC whales could cause similar harm.
Piling up does not always mean rallying, as BTC’s consolidation despite outflows shows. Minimal exchange reserves further magnify whales’ influence, exposing markets to sudden price volatility.
Strategies to Mitigate Risks
Track whale behavior with tools like Whale Alert or Glassnode for near real-time analytics. Use technicals as confirmation of the trend; Bollinger Bands tightened 8% for BTC in April 2025, alerting an upmove. Spread your investments to minimize whale-caused volatility on any one coin.
Conclusion
As of May 5, 2025, crypto whales are moving abundantly in the Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana markets.
- Bitcoin Whales Are Fueling Bullish Pressure – Bitcoin whales are triggering a bullish impulse through accumulation, holding the price steady around $97,000 and on the brink of hitting $100,000.
- Ethereum’s Mixed Signals – Ethereum’s mixed whale signals - accumulation and shorting - leave $1,842 in doubt.
- Solana’s Balance – Whale sell-offs for Solana are being balanced by DeFi growth as $145 is defended.
On-chain data, exchange inflows, and wallet trends show whales’ strategic moves, which provide insight into the direction of the crypto market. Traders must keep an eye on whale activity, leverage technical analysis, and handle risk management to take advantage of these dynamics and stay wary of volatility.
