Can new Bitcoin whales stop a sub-$90K BTC price crash?

Bitcoin (BTC) has gained a new key support level as BTC price action fails to retest the $100,000 mark.

In an X post on Feb. 12, Axel Adler Jr., a contributor to onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, put new Bitcoin whales in the spotlight.

Bitcoin whales “unlikely” to sell at a loss below $90,000

Bitcoin remains trapped in a narrow range as sensitivity to macroeconomic and geopolitical events keeps a return to six figures out of reach.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows BTC price flatlining at $96,000 into the Wall Street open.

While some expect a sea change and even new all-time highs for BTC/USD in the coming weeks, Adler is concerned with the opposite scenario — a deeper BTC price correction.

Where downside might subside, he suggests, coincides with the bottom of the three-month-old Bitcoin trading range at around $90,000.

This is due to the newest Bitcoin whale cohort — composed of entities hodling coins for up to 155 days — having its aggregate cost basis nearby.

“The realized price of new whales = $89.2K, which is essentially the strongest support level for the current consolidation,” he told X followers. 

“Large players who bought BTC at this price are unlikely to sell at a loss.”

Seller exhaustion is a popular topic among market participants this week.

Analyzing spot buy and sell volumes on exchanges, Andre European head of research at asset management firm Bitwise, said that price holding near $100,000 was proof that sellers had run out of ammunition to drive the market much lower.

Sell-side pressure, accompanying data revealed, had reached its highest levels since the aftermath of the Three Arrows Capital hedge fund implosion in mid-2022.

“Seller exhaustion is happening, which means the reversal could start soon,” popular crypto trader Cas Abbe added about the figures.

Short-term holders show signs of panic

Continuing, onchain analytics firm Glassnode revealed that the bulk of BTC being sold at a loss had been owned by short-term holders (STHs) who bought in up to a month ago.

Related: New Bitcoin miner ‘capitulation’ hints at sub-$100K BTC price bottom

As of Feb. 11, those sellers had realized Bitcoin sales totaling $834 million. 

By contrast, loss-making sales from entities hodling for one to six months totaled a mere $126.5 million.

“This reinforces the notion where the majority of onchain volume, and realized losses tend to be linked with investors who have most recently entered the market, and are thus the most sensitive to volatility and price fluctuations,” Glassnode commented in the latest edition of its regular newsletter, “The Week Onchain.”

Glassnode added another key support level to the radar in the form of the aggregate STH cost basis at $92,000.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.