Bitcoin’s long-term holders have returned to accumulation

“Historically, sustained transitions from net distribution to net accumulation have often emerged during periods of market weakness, as long-term investors gradually increase their holdings while shorter-term participants de-risk,” Glassnode said in its latest report.

The signal gets more interesting when looking at the broader accumulation picture with the help of Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score. This indicator measures buying behavior across wallet sizes on a rolling 30-day basis on a scale from 0 to 1, and has shifted meaningfully higher over the past month, suggesting broad-based bargain hunting.

The strongest accumulation is currently showing up among the smallest holders (under 1 BTC), whose trend score appears near maximum at roughly 0.8-0.9, and mid-sized entities holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC, which are also reading close to that range. Wallets in the 1-10 BTC and 10-100 BTC cohorts show moderate accumulation at roughly 0.6-0.7, while larger wallets in the 1,000-10,000 BTC range have also turned net buyers, though at a moderate reading of around 0.5-0.6.

What stands out is the largest whale cohort, wallets holding more than 10,000 BTC, which still reads closer to neutral at roughly 0.4-0.5, suggesting the biggest players have yet to commit meaningfully to the accumulation trend.

Still, the synchronized accumulation across most wallet-size cohorts is significant and suggests that BTC at $60,000 is cheap enough to attract new demand from several corners of the market at once.

“Historically, periods where accumulation becomes widespread across wallet sizes have often provided a constructive foundation for longer-term market recoveries, although confirmation through sustained buying remains key,” Glassnode said.

The firm added a caveat: it is too early to call this a full accumulation regime, as the largest holders have yet to begin accumulating for the trend to become self-sustaining.