After a brief moment of bullish performance in Bitcoin, the price experienced a sudden pullback due to a broader market shakedown, which caused BTC to revisit the $90,000 threshold. While this pullback has sparked a frenzy in the cryptocurrency community, on-chain data has revealed a shocking trend about the sudden pullback.

True Capitulation, Not A Routine Bitcoin Pullback

The market was rocked by a recent decline in the price of Bitcoin, but this pullback comes with an extra layer. Alphractal, an advanced investment and on-chain data analytics platform, has shed crucial insights about the decline using several key indicators to determine the unseen trend.

After carrying out its research, the on-chain platform revealed that the latest Bitcoin drop was not just another correction, but a clear instance of a capitulation event. This abrupt turnaround seems to have embodied all the characteristics of a full-scale capitulation event. These include an emotional flush-out when panic selling, forced liquidations, and intense dread came together in one dramatic moment.

Alphractal’s reading is backed by three major signals that rarely show up together, suggesting a pivotal moment for BTC. Such a trend may be the turning point that reshapes the short-term trajectory of the crypto king.

The first signal highlighted by the platform comes from the Bitcoin Hash Rate, which has witnessed a steady decline over the last 30 days. Presently, miners are turning off their machines, triggering heightened pressure on the ecosystem. When miners begin to lose money, it typically implies that the market might have reached its peak.

Another signal is coming from the BTC price drawdown. After a fast, violent drop, the metric is hitting extreme levels beyond the historical median. This is not just a technical drop, but it’s pain, triggered by forced selling and liquidation.

A Rare Trend And A Good Entry Opportunity

Finally, the last signal is the recent spike in active supply as those holding BTC for months or years have begun spending their coins. A behavior of this kind only unfolds when investors exhibit heightened caution, causing sentiment to drop. 

An interesting aspect about this trend is that when these 3 signals flash in unison, the Capitulation Oscillator tends to rise. This is a moment that nearly always denotes the conclusion of a downward trend or a leveling phase, as was the case in 2021.

While it has played out in previous scenarios, it is not a guarantee of an immediate bottom. However, moments like these have historically been uncommon and frequently present opportunities that only occur once or twice every cycle, especially for those rooted in on-chain data.

Joao Wedson, the founder of Alphractal, also confirms these signals, which point to real capitulation. According to Wedson, the recent correction was the most severe capitulation event since 2022. 

Nonetheless, this has traditionally led to the formation of long accumulation regions before the price makes its next macro direction. In other words, Wedson noted that the highest probability scenario is that 2025 will end in a broad sideways range; a classic phase of accumulation or redistribution.

Following a rebound in the broader cryptocurrency market on Sunday, Bitcoin‘s price moved back above the $91,000 mark. Despite this bullish price action, which was brief as BTC has lost the level, major BTC holders are sharply exiting the market, raising questions about the stability of the current bounce.

A Key Bitcoin Cohort Has Stopped Accumulating

In the ongoing market recovery, there has been a shift in sentiment among Bitcoin key investors. A recent report by Joao Wedson, a market expert and founder of Alphractal, reveals that BTC’s typically unshakable giants, also known as whales, have now gone quiet.

Following several months of strategic buying activity, the whale cohort, those wealthy individuals who frequently control and influence market trends, has abruptly stopped accumulating. Specifically, this fading buying enthusiasm is spotted among wallet addresses holding between 100 BTC and 1,000 BTC.

According to the market expert, this shift in sentiment from the whale cohort is a development that demands close attention as the market fluctuates. This is likely because the absence of whale-sized demand creates an extra layer of complexity in the market, causing speculations about whether this is just a time of careful observation. Perhaps the first scene of a more extensive structural change.

Joao Wedson highlighted that this range often represents the real big players, funds, companies, and professionals, as most wallet addresses holding over 1,000 BTC are linked to crypto exchanges. What’s interesting about the current pause in whale accumulation is its similarities with that of the 2021 bull market cycle before prices drastically plummeted. 

Just like in 2021, the whale cohort has ceased to accumulate BTC, and the annual fluctuation has begun to decline. Meanwhile, after months of fading buying activity from these investors, the price of Bitcoin dropped sharply, triggering a bear market phase.

Wedson has addressed any misconceptions toward the trend, noting that this is not a rule nor an automatic sell signal. However, it does demonstrate that major players are currently, at the very least, less enthusiastic about adding to their BTC stash.

Whales Are Currently Shorting BTC

While Bitcoin recovered above $91,000, whale investors were increasingly bearish about the recent bounce. In another post, Wedson reported an unusual tilt as large investors are quickly reducing their long positions or even raising their short positions in BTC.

BTC whales may be opening more short positions, but retail investors are continuously leaning into the upward direction. The contrast is dramatic, a sort of market structure in which small-investor zeal is overshadowed by deep-pocketed prudence.

Wedson, this divergence normally leads to a period of sideways price action, as seen back between March and April this year. However, this trend might imply that some bears are likely targeting the $80,000 price level again in order to sustain accumulation. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price was trading at $86,275, exhibiting a more than 5% decline in the past day.