Bitcoin demand turns negative, triggering an alert: giant whales keep reducing holdings, and selling pressure could suppress upside potential for a rebound

Gate News message, in April 2026, after Bitcoin went through five straight months of pullbacks, it showed signs of stabilizing in the near term, but on-chain and fund-flow data indicate that demand on the buy side has clearly weakened. A recent CryptoQuant report notes that Bitcoin’s apparent demand has turned negative, at about -63,000 BTC, while overall market sell pressure remains higher than new buying.

On-chain developments further intensify market caution. Lookonchain reports that large miner Riot Platforms has recently sold about 500 BTC, worth roughly $34 million; at the same time, asset manager Empery Digital transferred the remaining 1,795 BTC to a custody address. Although such transfers do not necessarily equate to outright selling, under a backdrop of weak demand they are easily interpreted by the market as potential sell-pressure signals.

Structurally, the whale cohort holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC has shifted from net buying to net selling. Data show that this group’s holdings have fallen from an all-time high of roughly 200,000 BTC in 2024 to about 188,000 BTC today, making it one of the more notable deleveraging cycles in history.

Meanwhile, capital momentum in the U.S. market remains insufficient. Relevant premium indicators have continued to sit in negative territory, reflecting low demand from domestic investors. The report also states that sell-offs by retail traders and other participants have clearly exceeded the pace of accumulation by institutions, leaving the market’s supply-demand balance persistently skewed.

It is worth noting that institutional buying also shows signs of centralization. A large company bought 44,377 BTC in March alone, accounting for the vast majority of the total purchases made by publicly listed companies during that period, but it was unable to effectively offset the broader sell pressure.

At this stage, Bitcoin’s trajectory depends not only on the technical structure of price, but also—more importantly—on changes in fund flows. If the demand side cannot recover, near-term rebound potential may remain constrained, and the market will continue to be in a process of deleveraging and rebalancing.