The results of the research by CryptoQuant indicate that over the past few months Bitcoin It only rose in price thanks to large investors.
CryptoQuant employees published a chart showing that from the end of October 2024 to January 20, 2025, the rich increased their cryptocurrency reserves from 16,2 million to 16,4 million BTC (82,7% of the issued bitcoins). And ordinary investors, on the contrary, got rid of 3,4% of coins during this period and reduced their coin reserves to 1,69 million BTC (8,5% of the circulating supply of bitcoins).

Changes in the number of bitcoins held by large (red line) and ordinary (blue) investors, as well as fluctuations in the BTC rate (black)
Notably, wealthy investors were buying Bitcoin while regular traders were selling ahead of US President Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. These statistics suggest that institutional investors are optimistic that the digital asset's bull run will continue, while many ordinary members of the crypto community are betting on the coin's value to fall.
Practice shows that crypto whales are right much more often, since they themselves determine the situation on the market, and ordinary investors can only go with the flow, like small fish.
In mid-January, the amount of realized profit from selling bitcoins dropped to almost zero, and in November-December [2024] this figure approached a very overheated level of 60%, when the bitcoin rate soared to $100,000.
The low realized profit size indicates little profit was made from selling the coins, thus indicating low pressure on the Bitcoin price, - concluded CryptoQuant employees.