As Bitcoin trades near $74,000, the trends in on-chain long positions are sending intriguing signals. Margin long positions on a certain major exchange have expanded to about 77,100 BTC, up 64% over the past six months.

Typically, such an accumulation of large long positions stands out when the market is in a stress phase. In fact, the same pattern was seen during the FTX collapse in November 2022, during last August’s carry trade unwind, and in the recent period of turmoil related to tariffs. In other words, whales are adding to their positions during adjustment phases.

But here’s what’s important: the increase in these long positions does not necessarily mean that the price has bottomed out. On the contrary, the fact that positions keep building up may suggest that Bitcoin has not yet formed a clear bottom. This also matches the expectation of monthly downside for five consecutive months.

By the way, in the Ethereum space, a certain mining company has shifted direction and started accumulating a large amount of ETH, which also reflects the diversification of market participants’ views. Against ETH around 2.33K, they currently hold 4.87 million units at an average acquisition price of $2,206. When you look at moves like these by large players, it’s worth keeping an eye on how the market-wide long position strategy will play out.