A major battle between institutional whales is defining Bitcoin’s price action today. The market first reacted to a massive sell-off from BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin Trust. On-chain trackers show IBIT sold over 24,000 BTC, worth $2.75 billion. This institutional selling pushed Bitcoin down to the $104,000 level.
A major battle between institutional whales is defining Bitcoin’s price action today. The market first reacted to a massive sell-off from BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin Trust. On-chain trackers show IBIT sold over 24,000 BTC, worth $2.75 billion. This institutional selling pushed Bitcoin down to the $104,000 level.
In response, a single, mysterious whale purchased $86 million worth of Bitcoin. This move signals significant buy-side confidence, even as BlackRock was liquidating its position.
The BlackRock IBIT wallets were seen consistently offloading BTC throughout the day. Selling pressure intensified as Bitcoin’s price dipped to around $105,000 on Binance. This move represents one of the largest institutional outflows in recent months. It has also sparked speculation about short-term liquidity repositioning by major funds.
This BTC price crash resulted in massive liquidations. data shows $1.36 billion was liquidated in the past 24 hours, with $1.22 billion of that total coming from long positions alone.
Not all institutional entities are selling. The $86 million Bitcoin purchase from an unidentified whale followed Prenetics, a Nasdaq-listed healthcare firm, adding over 100 BTC at an average price of $109,594, bringing its total holdings to 378 BTC.
Similarly, The Smarter Web Company, the UK’s largest public Bitcoin-holding tech firm, bought an additional 4 BTC at $108,510 each, boosting its treasury to 2,664 BTC, as per an announcement shared today on X.
Meanwhile, on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant that Bitcoin’s Stablecoin Supply Ratio (SSR) has dropped back to the 13–14 range, historically marking a rebound zone. The low SSR indicates that stablecoin liquidity, or sidelined buying power, is increasing, indicating that capital could soon re-enter the market.
The current standoff between institutional sellers like BlackRock and deep-pocketed accumulators represents a stalemate in the market with bears gradually pushing out the buyers. However, if BTC manages to stabilize above $104,000–$106,000, a swift rebound toward $112,000–$115,000 is possible. But with Bitcoin ETFs $186 million on Tuesday, a reversal needs a major catalyst.
