Asia Morning Briefing: Bitcoin Holds Above $114K as Whales Absorb Supply and Shorts Rebalance

Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.
Bitcoin’s recovery above $114,000 this week reflects a measured reset rather than a breakout. Glassnode data show that since mid-October, about 62,000 BTC have moved out of long-term inactive wallets, roughly 0.4% of the total illiquid base.

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The shift marks the first notable decline in illiquid supply this cycle, signaling that some long-held coins are returning to more liquid hands.

Whales, however, have been quietly absorbing that flow, data from Glassnode shows.

Wallets holding large balances have added to their positions over the past 30 days and haven’t meaningfully sold since Oct. 15. By contrast, smaller holders between 0.1 and 10 BTC, roughly $10,000 to $1 million, have been steady sellers since late 2024. The result is a redistribution phase: weaker hands trimming risk, larger holders accumulating.

In derivatives, leverage has stayed balanced. Hyperliquid leaderboard data show about $4.1 billion in open interest split almost evenly between longs and shorts, with a slight tilt toward the latter.

Coinglass tracked around $413 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, about $337 million of which were shorts. That’s a moderate flush, not a full short squeeze, enough to clean up over-levered bets but not to reset positioning or force panic buying.

Together, these dynamics can help explain the calm recovery in bitcoin’s price. BTC’s move from $110K to $114.9K was driven by a mix of mild short covering and steady spot absorption rather than momentum chasing. Glassnode data shows that the market now sits in a neutral zone: illiquid supply is easing, whales are holding, and leverage is balanced.

For now, Bitcoin is likely to oscillate between $113K and $116K until the next catalyst emerges. With a dovish Fed already widely expected, the question is, what will this be?

BTC: Bitcoin’s rise from $110K to about $114.9K reflects a modest recovery powered by whale accumulation and mild short covering, not the kind of broad-based demand that signals a new uptrend.

ETH: Ether climbed to $4,186, up about 6% over 24 hours, outperforming Bitcoin as traders rotated into higher-beta assets following BTC’s stabilization, though on-chain and derivatives data suggest the move remains largely momentum-driven rather than backed by strong new inflows

Gold: JPMorgan expects gold to climb to $5,055 an ounce by late 2026 and $6,000 by 2028, calling the recent pullback a healthy consolidation within a broader uptrend driven by Fed rate cuts, stagflation fears, and rising demand from central banks and investors diversifying away from the dollar.

Nikkei 225: Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged past 50,000 for the first time as optimism over U.S.-China trade talks and hopes for domestic demand expansion under Prime Minister Takaichi lifted sentiment.

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