Major Crypto Holders Build Positions as Bear Cycle Enters Final Phase: CryptoQuant
Large-scale investors in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP have been building their holdings amid declining prices, with CryptoQuant reporting that major players are accumulating tokens as the market potentially approaches its floor.
Major investors holding substantial cryptocurrency positions have been building up their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) holdings as prices decline toward levels typically seen during the concluding phase of bear market cycles, data from CryptoQuant indicates.
The increase in whale wallet balances amid declining token prices has the potential to decrease circulating supply while increasing concentration of holdings among the largest investors, according to the blockchain analytics firm's most recent Smart Money report reviewed by Cointelegraph.
Holdings of Bitcoin among whale addresses, which excludes exchange wallets and mining pool addresses, increased to approximately 3.06 million BTC from 2.87 million BTC in December 2025, with the pace of accumulation picking up momentum following Bitcoin's decline beneath the $60,000 threshold in June.
Wallets containing between 10,000 to 100,000 ETH collectively accumulated a record-breaking 19.6 million ETH, while addresses holding in excess of 100,000 ETH have increased their balances by approximately 1.8 million ETH since the middle of 2025.
Within XRP trading activity, average spot trading order sizes have continued to register within CryptoQuant's "big whale" classification while the token has fluctuated in the $1 to $1.20 price range. That said, the neutral reading on the 90-day taker cumulative volume delta indicates gradual absorption of supply rather than forceful buying activity, according to the report's findings.
Valuations point to late-stage bear market
The analytics firm also highlighted realized price, which represents an estimation of the overall market's average cost basis recorded on the blockchain, as supporting evidence that cryptocurrency markets could be nearing their bottom.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin was changing hands at $63,935, according to CoinGecko data, trading above its realized price level of $52,900. Ether was exchanging at $1,858, which sits below its realized price of approximately $2,450. XRP was trading at around $1.10 when compared against a realized price of roughly $0.75.
"Rising whale balances into price weakness is the clearest smart-money tell,"
CryptoQuant
The blockchain analytics company stated, further noting that this particular accumulation behavior has historically appeared before market bottoms throughout previous cycles while issuing a warning that markets continue to face the risk of additional downward price movement.
The assessment from CryptoQuant arrives as additional market research firms have similarly detected potential signals suggesting a market bottom formation.
Earlier this week on Monday, analytics firm 10x Research indicated that Bitcoin might validate a bear-market bottom formation with a monthly candle closing above the $63,000 level. Meanwhile, K33 stated in their July 7 research report that Bitcoin has traditionally established cycle bottom prices within several weeks following the point at which more than half of its circulating token supply entered an unrealized loss position.