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Investor sentiment in the crypto market sits at its lowest point in months — and the biggest Bitcoin holders are treating it like a buying window.
Retail Sellers, Whale Buyers
While everyday investors have been stepping back, wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 Bitcoin added roughly 61,568 coins over the past 30 days, according to data from market analytics firm Santiment.
That 0.45% increase in holdings came even as geopolitical tensions flared and broader financial markets turned choppy. At the same time, the smallest wallets — those holding under 0.01 BTC — also added coins, picking up around 213 Bitcoin, a 0.42% rise. The two groups moved in the same direction, but for different reasons, analysts say.
🐳📈 Despite dipping to $68.1K today, Bitcoin’s key stakeholders are accumulating. Whales and sharks with 10-10K $BTC have accumulated 61,568 BTC (+0.45%) in the past month, which is a promising sign of an eventual breakout from this range.
🤑 Besides the current macroeconomic… pic.twitter.com/YDbRYNYH85
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) March 26, 2026
Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, said that large holders are quietly stacking during flat-price periods, not reacting to daily headlines. Small wallet holders, he said, are driven by something else entirely — fear of missing out when prices tick upward.
“Small wallets are chasing the momentum,” John said, adding that if retail buying overheats, a brief sell-off before the next accumulation wave is possible.
A Pattern Analysts Have Seen Before
Santiment analysts pointed to a longer historical pattern: when large wallets accumulate while smaller holders are selling, it has often preceded the start of a sustained price rise.
The firm called the current behavior a “promising sign” that a breakout from the months-long trading range could be ahead — and that the direction of that breakout is more likely to be up than down.
Bitcoin exchange outflows have also been steady throughout March, data shows. Coins leaving exchanges typically signal holders are moving assets into cold storage, a sign they plan to hold rather than sell in the short term.
Not every major holder has been buying, though. On March 19, two Bitcoin whales moved tens of millions of dollars worth of coins onto exchanges — a move that often precedes a sale. That day, Bitcoin prices dropped as attacks on Gulf oil and gas infrastructure pushed energy prices higher and rattled markets tied to the Iran conflict.
Extreme Fear Grips The Market
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index recorded a score of 10 on Thursday and 13 on Friday. Both readings fall firmly in “extreme fear” territory. The entire month of February and the week prior both averaged the same. A score of zero represents maximum fear; 100 represents peak greed.
That kind of prolonged fear reading is unusual. It reflects a market where uncertainty has settled in — not as a spike, but as a sustained mood. Middle East tensions have been a key driver. US and Israeli strikes against Iran in February triggered a wave of retaliations across the region, and the conflict has continued to weigh on global markets since.
Featured image from EG Healthcare, chart from TradingView
