Bitcoin whales on a buying spree, triggering a supply squeeze
Bitcoin ($BTC) whales, led by institutional investors, have accelerated their accumulation pace in the past few weeks through April 16.
Over the past four days, Bitcoin whales acquired 10,000 $BTC, valued at about $750 million, according to on-chain analytics from Santiment. As such, this group of investors increased their $BTC holdings to 5.17 million coins, worth approximately $383.36 billion at press time.
$BTC held by whales. Source: Santiment
The purchase acceleration coincided with renewed demand for U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), led by BlackRock’s IBIT, as Finbold noted. During the past 30 days, $BTC whales purchased around 270,000 units, according to an analysis by the Bitfinex crypto exchange.
Whales accumulated 270,000 $BTC in 30 days, the largest buying spree since 2013.Exchange reserves are at their lowest since December 2017.The supply to meet new demand is shrinking 🤔 pic.twitter.com/F6Td5a5XcL
— Bitfinex (@bitfinex) April 15, 2026
Bitcoin whales fuel a supply squeeze
The recent surge in $BTC demand from whale investors has triggered a supply squeeze across all cryptocurrency exchanges. Investors accelerated their $BTC withdrawals from crypto exchanges in the last few weeks to reach a new year-to-date (YTD) low of roughly 2.68 million Bitcoins at the time of publication, based on data from CryptoQuant.
Bitcoin exchange supply YTD. Source: CryptoQuant
Notably, Bitcoin investors have been accumulating relentlessly in the past two months, hence reducing the $BTC exchange supply at a faster pace. Essentially, long-term Bitcoin investors have been buying the dip in anticipation of a near-term bull rally.
What’s next for the $BTC price?
Following the sharp uptick in Bitcoin accumulation in the past 30 days, the $BTC price has attempted a reversal. The flagship coin rebounded from its lows of approximately $65,000 to reach a local high of $75,000 this week.
$BTC/USD 30-day performance. Source: Finbold
However, $BTC price recently faced significant resistance around $75,000, which can only be broken by a sustained whale accumulation.