It’s been a tough week for the alpha dogs of the crypto world, and analysts aren’t sure when the blowback will stop.
On Wednesday, Bitcoin was trading at just over $90,000 and Ethereum was trading around $3,041, marking a sharp move after a tough week.
Bitcoin is down more than 12% and Ethereum is down about 11% in the past seven days, according to market updates. Traders and analysts say the fluctuations reflect both on-chain activity and broader macro pressures.
Rotation of long-term holders
According to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju, much of the recent price movement reflects long-term holders moving their coins between each other and into new hands.
He said older Bitcoin holders are holding their assets for longer periods of time, selling them to buyers from traditional financial institutions such as spot ETFs and corporate treasuries.
He warned of heavy selling by OG whales earlier this year when prices peaked, but now points to new liquidity from a variety of institutional sources that is changing how supply is absorbed.
Some on-chain signals show successful corrections
On-chain indicators suggest this decline may be a mid-cycle correction rather than a complete market reversal. Short-term holders reduced their exposure through panic selling, while long-term holders took routine profit-taking, according to the report.
Analysts said new buyers continued to add money during the selloff, but the inflows were not large enough to offset the wave of selling by nervous short-term traders. Bitcoin’s pullback from highs around $126,000 has been cited as part of this rebalancing.
BTCUSD trading at $90,960 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView
According to the report, more than $1 trillion has disappeared from the entire cryptocurrency market in six weeks, with market capitalization falling by a quarter from its high in early October.
Data from CoinGecko, which tracked more than 18,500 coins, shows the sector’s value has fallen sharply, with Bitcoin down about 25% during that period, to around $91,200 at one point. Trade flow has thinned, and many market participants say confidence among both retailers and institutional investors has waned as prices fell.
Big buyers will see a discount
Samson Mo, CEO of JAN3, told reporters that some buyers have little sensitivity to prices and can take advantage of the decline to increase their holdings. He gave examples of Strategies and other companies with large financial budgets, as well as stablecoin issuers and highly profitable companies that could increase their positions.
Moe suggested that Bitcoin, at around $95,000, could look like a “discount” of nearly 20% to these buyers, making accumulation more attractive while supply is limited.
Sandwiched between chain signals and macro risks
Analysts like Nansen, meanwhile, say Bitcoin is currently behaving like a macro asset that moves in line with liquidity, dollar and policy cues.
Traders also cited forced selling and tightening risk appetite after global events dampened sentiment in early October.
Increased political support under President Donald Trump earlier this year and the introduction of Wall Street through spot ETFs helped, but even that support couldn’t prevent the recent backlash.
Featured image from Wikipedia, chart from TradingView
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