Crypto whales accumulate as bear market nears late stage: CryptoQuant

Large cryptocurrency holders are accumulating Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH) as valuations approach levels associated with the final stage of a bear market, according to CryptoQuant.

Rising whale balances during price weakness can reduce available supply and concentrate ownership among larger holders, the blockchain analytics company said in its latest Smart Money report seen by Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin whale holdings, excluding exchanges and mining pools, rose to about 3.06 million $BTC from 2.87 million $BTC in December 2025, with accumulation accelerating after Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 in June.

Source: CryptoQuant

Ethereum wallets holding 10,000 to 100,000 $ETH collectively held a record 19.6 million $ETH, while wallets holding more than 100,000 $ETH added roughly 1.8 million $ETH since mid-2025.

In $XRP markets, average spot order sizes remained in CryptoQuant’s “big whale” category as the token traded between $1 and $1.20. However, neutral 90-day taker cumulative volume delta suggested passive absorption rather than aggressive buying, the report said.

Valuations point to late-stage bear market

CryptoQuant also pointed to realized price, an estimate of the market’s average onchain cost basis, as evidence that the market may be approaching a bottom.

Bitcoin traded at $63,935 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko, above its realized price of $52,900. Ether traded at $1,858, below its realized price of about $2,450. $XRP traded at roughly $1.10 compared with a realized price of about $0.75.

“Rising whale balances into price weakness is the clearest smart-money tell,” CryptoQuant said, adding that the accumulation pattern has historically preceded market bottoms while cautioning that the market remains exposed to further downside.

CryptoQuant’s analysis comes as other researchers have also identified potential bottoming indicators.

On Monday, 10x Research said Bitcoin could confirm a bear-market bottom with a monthly close above $63,000. K33 said in a July 7 report that Bitcoin has historically reached cycle lows within weeks after more than half of its circulating supply was held at a loss.