Bitcoin’s price is gradually picking up pace following a broader market recovery, allowing the largest cryptocurrency asset to revisit the $92,000 mark on Wednesday. Even though the price is showing strength, key investors are currently moving in the opposite direction of the trend, raising questions about the stability of the recent bounce.

Whales Slams The Brakes On Bullish Bitcoin Bets

Just as the price of Bitcoin staged a slight recovery, the derivatives market has shifted once again as investors make a sudden strategic retreat. On-chain metrics indicate that large BTC holders, also known as whale investors, are stepping back from their bullish positions, a clear sign of growing bearish sentiment.

After navigating the key Bitcoin whale vs. Retail Delta metric, Joao Wedson, an author and founder of the Alphractal analytics platform, disclosed that whales have closed their longs. This strategic pullback or shift in sentiment comes after a heavy positioning to the long side by the cohort.

While the retreat marks a notable change in market sentiment, it also suggests that large investors may be locking in profits or preparing for a potential deeper decline in BTC’s price. Wedson highlighted that while large players are currently starting to take some short positions again, retail investors are moving against them, indicating a clear disparity in sentiment between the two groups. 

Given that whale behavior has historically served as a leading indication for broader price action, this abrupt reversal raises further concerns about Bitcoin’s short-term trajectory. Following an exuberant surge, there are also concerns about whether the market is getting ready for a cooling phase.

The expert stated that the pattern of this metric against price actions looks somewhat similar to what was observed in February and April 2025. In other words, the price of BTC moving sideways longer than what most traders are anticipating is highly likely at this point.

Traders Calling For A BTC Rally

Overall, market sentiment appears to have recovered as Bitcoin traders become greedy, calling for more upward moves. According to a post from Santiment, a leading on-chain data analytics platform, BTC experienced a much-needed rebound back to the $94,600 price mark on Wednesday, which reinvigorated traders.

Interestingly, the brief bounce caused investors to Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) back in and look forward to the price of BTC going higher. Santiment’s social data, harvesting X, Reddit, Telegram, and other data, shows that calls for higher and above have increased dramatically.

High bars with blue shades indicate calls for lower or below, which is indicative of Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD). It is worth noting that prices often rise as retailers offload their holdings. 

Meanwhile, high bars with red shades represent calls for higher or above, signaling FOMO. When calls for higher moves increase, prices usually correct as retailers attempt to acquire more BTC on the way up. During these kinds of occasions, it is crucial to know that markets move in the opposite direction to the behavior of small traders.

Bitcoin climbed to a three-week high on Tuesday before slipping back, a move that has traders and analysts watching closely.

According to TradingView data, Bitcoin price topped out at $94,600 late in the session — its highest level since November 25 — then eased to about $92,450 at the time of reporting.

Santiment, a blockchain analytics firm, said social chatter calling for “higher” and “above” exploded during the spike, but market action remained uneven.

Bitcoin: Trader Frenzy And Skepticism

Reports have disclosed that the surge drew heavy retail attention and a flurry of social-media posts urging more buying.

Some market watchers questioned how organic the rise was. A well-known long-term investor using the handle “NoLimit” told his 53,000 X followers that the $94,000 push looked engineered: big buys packed into a few minutes, thin order books, then little follow-through.

Bitcoin enjoyed a much needed rebound back to $94.6K today, reinvigorating traders, causing them to FOMO back in and expect higher prices. According to our social data scraping X, Reddit, Telegram, & other data, calls for “higher” & “above” exploded.

High bars indicate… pic.twitter.com/o3U3yWkwkk

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 9, 2025

That pattern, he argued, is how larger traders can create short-term fear of missing out so they can sell into strength.

Santiment also highlighted a behavioral twist: smaller traders appear to pile in after spikes, often leaving them on the wrong side of moves.

Volatility followed the high, as prices pulled back by a couple thousand dollars within hours. Exchange order depth and timing of large blocks, analysts say, matter a lot when liquidity is shallow.

Fed Decision Could Shift Momentum

The US central bank meeting this week is a key wildcard. Market pricing on CME Group futures showed an 88% chance of a 0.25% rate cut, which many traders think helped fuel the rally. Yet some analysts warned that any sign of hesitation about future cuts could dampen risk appetite.

Beyond US policy, next week’s potential Bank of Japan rate action is being watched because a tighter stance there could lift yields and pull capital back to Japan, tightening global liquidity. That kind of flow can pressure risky assets across markets.

Liquidity, Institutions And The Bigger Picture

Meanwhile, long-term holders pared back supply after a 36% correction from the all-time high, and some addresses now hold levels seen in March.

Jessica Gonzales, an analyst cited in reports, said M2 money supply sits at about $22.3 trillion and stablecoin reserves remain elevated, suggesting there is capital around but not necessarily evenly distributed in markets.

Institutional moves also feature: big firms such as BlackRock and Strategy have expanded crypto exposure, which could add a steadier buyer base — or simply shift where risk sits.

What Traders Should Watch

Short-term traders should track order-book depth, large trade clusters, and how price reacts to any Fed wording about future cuts.

The next 25 days were flagged as especially important by several observers because liquidity swings and regulatory updates could flip the narrative fast. If a true broad-based bid forms, prices could move quickly. If the Fed signals caution, the opposite could happen.

Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin’s on-chain activity has shown a sharp slowdown since spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched. While institutional inflows into these products have accelerated, the number of active BTC addresses has declined. As Wall Street embraces BTC exposure, the network’s grassroots participation appears to be undergoing a significant transformation.

In an X post, the CEO of SwanDesk, financial analyst Jacob King, pointed out that Bitcoin active addresses have been in a steady decline since the US spot BTC ETFs launched in January 2024, and the irony is obvious.

Why Retail Participation Shows Signs Of Fatigue

 For years, BTC maximalists have pushed for Wall Street adoption, believing institutional involvement would unlock the next wave of mass usage. Instead, on-chain participation has dropped sharply as retail lost interest.

King noted that these Bitcoiners have piled into the ETF for a quick, early FOMO bump, and then bailed, leaving behind a market where the asset is increasingly traded by proxy. According to King, ETF investing kills BTC’s core principles. While investors no longer hold or control their own assets as banks do, which is the very system BTC was designed to challenge, greed always beats ideology.

Market watcher Crypto Seth has revealed that the net inflows into BlackRock and Fidelity’s spot BTC ETFs have been relatively subdued since October 10, when the largest liquidation events happened. Seth believes that this might turn into a momentum reversal soon, as the US stock market is at 1% below new highs despite retail sentiment remaining stuck in extreme fear.

Seth also pointed out that the macro backdrop is shifting in BTC’s favor. This is because the Federal Reserve ended its Quantitative Tightening (QT) program on December 1, 2025, wrapping up a multi-year effort that shaved nearly $3 trillion from the balance sheet since 2022. 

Since the US Fed rate is still at 4.00%, more interest rate cuts are on the horizon, which is higher than both Europe and China. The BlackRock iShares BTC Trust (IBIT), which was launched in January 2024, is currently the firm’s most profitable exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on annual fee revenue, despite being less than two years old.

Unlocking Bitcoin Without Compromising Its Core Principles

Bitcoin is seeing key initiatives that improve its ecosystem. Every market cycle that has promise to unlock Bitcoin for decentralized finance (DeFi), RioSwap is one of the few products built on infrastructure that was capable of unlocking it in a truly decentralized way. 

According to Mintlayer, this was powered by Mintlayer’s native HTLC architecture, as RioSwap introduces a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) that allows BTC to move directly into decentralized markets without wrapping, unbridging, and is fully in the user’s control. With the RioSwap testnet now live, Mintlayer sees this as the start of a new liquidity phase for BTC where the asset will become an active participant in the decentralized market on its own terms.