Institutional players and ETFs have begun to absorb the majority of Bitcoin sales, indicating a quiet reallocation of wealth in the cryptocurrency market.
Since July 2025, Bitcoin’s long-term holders have stealthily sold nearly 300,000 BTC, amounting to approximately $33 billion, as revealed by on-chain data from market analyst Shanaka Anslem Perera.
This massive reallocation, primarily taken in by ETFs and corporate treasuries, represents what the expert identifies as the most significant structural transformation in Bitcoin ownership since the asset’s inception.
The Great Wealth Transfer
As per Perera’s analysis shared on his Substack, The 100,000 Question, long-term holders—identified as wallets inactive for over 155 days—have been transferring BTC to institutional investors via private deals and ETF arrangements, rather than through public exchanges. This has resulted in a quiet yet extensive transfer of wealth.
BlackRock and Fidelity’s spot Bitcoin ETFs now hold approximately 1.4 million BTC, translating to $139 billion in assets under management. Following a $2.9 billion outflow in October, there was a significant return of inflows in early November, with $300 million entering the market in just 72 hours.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas provided context for the fluctuations on November 11, highlighting that the $2.7 billion in outflows over the month represented only 1.5% of total ETF assets, indicating that 98.5% of holdings remain stable.
Despite the extensive selling, Perera noted that BTC has maintained a stable trading range, oscillating between $95,000 and $106,000, with volatility reducing to 35%, nearly half of its historical average, while unrealized losses are minimal at 3.1%. These trends suggest that institutions, rather than retail traders, are now influencing the price dynamics of the leading cryptocurrency.
A New Market Reality Emerges
This fundamental shift in ownership is making traditional Bitcoin cycle theories irrelevant. The post-halving phase, which historically has yielded returns exceeding 150%, has only produced a 41% increase this time around.
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Perera attributes this structural change to the persistent demand from ETFs and corporate treasuries, such as Strategy, which now holds over 641,000 BTC, thereby preventing the significant downturns seen in past market cycles.
The community remains split on the future trajectory. Some analysts observe ongoing resistance, with insights from XWIN Research Japan indicating that, despite positive news, a “wall” between $107,000 and $118,000 is proving difficult to breach due to continuing distribution by long-term holders.
Currently, after peaking above $126,000 in early October, BTC has corrected and is trading around $104,500. It has decreased roughly 8% over the past 30 days but is still up 18% year-to-date.
Perera’s analysis suggests that a sustained hold above $100,000, supported by steady institutional inflows, could set the stage for the next upward movement, whereas a dip below may test the next major support level around $88,500.
