Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP Whales Are Buying the Weakness. One Part of the Signal Is Still Missing

Crypto’s largest holders are buying into a market that still looks wounded.

Bitcoin whales have added to their balances. Large Ethereum wallets are holding a record amount of ETH.

XRP’s biggest orders are leaning toward accumulation around the same price band where the token has spent weeks grinding sideways.

That sounds like a clean bottom signal.

It is not one yet.

New figures published by The Block show that wallets holding 1,000 to 10,000 bitcoin increased their combined balance from roughly 2.87 million BTC in December 2025 to about 3.06 million BTC. The rise happened while bitcoin remained far below its October peak, a pattern consistent with large holders adding during weakness instead of waiting for a full price recovery.

Ethereum’s large-wallet data moved even faster. Addresses holding 10,000 to 100,000 ETH reached a record 19.6 million ETH, up from about 14 million in the middle of 2025.

Wallets above 100,000 ETH also added roughly 1.8 million ETH from mid-July into early August. Across those two cohorts, the increase over the past year was about 4.6 million ETH.

XRP produced a quieter version of the same setup. CryptoQuant saw larger average order sizes and a neutral cumulative-volume-delta reading, meaning aggressive buying and selling were close to balanced.

The combination points to absorption around the $1.00 to $1.20 range rather than a chase higher.

The three assets are attracting large buyers for different reasons, but the common thread is price weakness. These wallets are building positions before the market has supplied a clear trend reversal.

Read more ⤵️https://t.co/s1wmPIbgqi

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) August 6, 2026

The cost-basis data explains why the signal remains unfinished.

At the time of the analysis, bitcoin traded near $64,640 while its realized price sat around $52,900. XRP changed hands near $1.10 against a realized price close to $0.75.

Both were above the average onchain cost basis of the coins being tracked.

Ether was in the opposite position.

ETH traded near $1,900 while its realized price was roughly $2,450. That left the market price below the network’s aggregate cost basis and a much larger share of holders sitting on unrealized losses.

The difference matters because whale accumulation can reflect conviction, but it can also reflect buyers averaging into a falling market.

A rising large-holder balance says who is willing to buy. It does not say that sellers are finished.

Bitcoin offers a second example of that tension.

A separate CryptoQuant review found sharp inflow spikes into accumulation addresses at the end of July and the start of August. Those addresses are designed to capture wallets with a long-term holding pattern, so strong deposits can be a useful sign that available supply is moving into firmer hands. The latest spike was among the largest shown on the firm’s two-month chart.

The analyst still identified $70,000 as a major decision area because it sits near the realized price for an important whale cohort.

Buyers who accumulated below that line could become a source of support if bitcoin reclaims it. They could also become a source of overhead supply if repeated attempts fail and newly accumulated coins move back toward exchanges.

That leaves the market in an unusual position. Large holders are behaving more confidently than the price chart, yet the price has not validated their bet.

The accumulation is real. The broad follow-through remains missing.

CryptoQuant framed the larger market as a late-stage bear phase rather than a confirmed new bull cycle. That distinction allows room for another drawdown, a long sideways stretch or a false breakout before a durable low is established.

Whales Are Accumulating. But Is It Really Bullish?

“The inflows are undeniably significant and deserve close attention, but the $70K realized price may become a major decision zone.” – By @abramchart pic.twitter.com/P3IwmyY3t2

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) August 6, 2026

For bitcoin, the next clean confirmation would be a sustained move through the cost basis that has trapped recent large buyers, backed by stronger spot demand rather than a brief liquidation squeeze.

For Ethereum, the first hurdle is more basic: ETH has to recover the realized-price zone that remains well above the market. Until then, record whale holdings coexist with a large underwater holder base.

For XRP, the $1.00 to $1.20 absorption range needs to produce a decisive break with continued large-order buying. Neutral order-flow data can become constructive if sell pressure is being absorbed, but it can stay neutral for a long time while price goes nowhere.

There is one encouraging difference from the earlier part of the decline.

The biggest wallets are no longer standing still across all three assets. Capital is moving into BTC, ETH and XRP while public sentiment remains cautious and prices remain compressed.

Whales can be early. They can also be wrong.

The next move through bitcoin’s $70,000 decision zone should help reveal which one this is.

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