Last updated on January 3rd, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Bitcoin’s sluggish price momentum this cycle may be linked to early investors cashing out, according to Bitcoiner Willy Woo, who warns that it now requires over $110,000 in new capital to absorb every Bitcoin sold by these long-time holders.
Woo explained on X that Bitcoin supply remains heavily concentrated among so-called “OG whales” — investors who accumulated BTC for under $10 more than a decade ago. Their selling pressure, he noted, has a significant impact on the amount of new money needed to push the asset higher.
Why is BTC moving up so slowly this cycle?
BTC supply is concentrated around OG whales who peaked their holdings in 2011 (orange and dark orange).
They bought their BTC at $10 or lower. It takes $110k+ of new capital to absorb each BTC they sell. pic.twitter.com/7CbWXsvX2l
— Willy Woo (@woonomic) August 24, 2025
The comments came as one whale’s large-scale rotation from Bitcoin into Ether was cited as a key driver of Sunday’s $45 billion plunge in Bitcoin’s market capitalization.
Blockchain data shows the whale moved 24,000 BTC (worth $2.7 billion) to the decentralized perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid between August 16 and August 25. Roughly 18,142 BTC of that has already been sold and converted into 416,598 ETH — with 275,500 ETH, or $1.3 billion, staked, suggesting a long-term pivot.
According to analyst MLM, the whale also opened leveraged long positions totalling 135,263 ETH on Hyperliquid, giving him exposure to over 551,000 ETH worth $2.6 billion. The strategy netted an estimated $185 million profit after the whale effectively front-ran traders attempting to mimic his moves, before later unwinding positions and triggering a cascade of sell orders.
The activity coincided with a sharp flash crash on Sunday evening. Bitcoin dropped 2.2% within minutes, sliding from $114,666 to $112,174 according to CoinGecko data, while Ether fell 4% before both assets recovered about half of their losses.
On-chain sleuths noted that the whale still controls 152,874 BTC across several addresses. The funds, linked to exchange HTX (formerly Huobi), had been dormant for six years before being mobilized this month.
Meanwhile, according to Blockchain investigator ZachXBT, Bitcoin investors have fallen victim to a massive social engineering scheme, losing 783 BTC—valued at roughly $91 million—in a single transaction this month.
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