Recent Bitcoin Rally Saw Retail Shift To Selling, Glassnode Reveals

On-chain analytics firm Glassnode has revealed how the smaller Bitcoin investor cohorts shifted toward distribution in the recent rally.

In a new post on X, Glassnode has talked about the recent trend in the Bitcoin Accumulation Trend Score. This on-chain indicator basically tells us about whether BTC investors are accumulating or distributing right now. The metric accounts for two factors when calculating its value: the 30-day balance changes happening in the wallets of the investors and the size of those wallets. The latter factor means that larger entities have a higher weightage in the score.

When the value of the indicator is greater than 0.5, it means the investors are in a phase of accumulation. The closer is the metric to 1, the stronger is this behavior. On the other hand, the Accumulation Trend Score being under 0.5 suggests distribution is dominant, with the strongest selling occurring at the zero mark.

In the context of the current topic, the Accumulation Trend Score of the collective network isn’t of interest, but rather the Wallet Size version, which showcases the behavior of the various investor cohorts divided based on balance size.

Below is the chart shared by Glassnode that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Accumulation Trend Score by Wallet Size over the last few months.

From the graph, it’s visible that the Bitcoin Accumulation Trend Score took on a shade of blue for some of the groups during February, suggesting investors of various sizes were accumulating.

In March, however, distribution has become dominant, with holders across the board participating in no or little accumulation. Two cohorts in particular stand out for their behavior: the below 1 BTC and 1 to 10 BTC ones. These groups, which correspond to the smallest of investors in the market, took to heavy distribution at the start of March, with the Accumulation Trend Score hitting close to zero.

From the chart, it’s visible that BTC’s surge toward $76,000 was met with continued selling from these groups, suggesting that the retail hands were exiting alongside the recovery.

Recently, BTC’s recovery has retraced, but behavior among the below 1 BTC and 1 to 10 BTC cohorts hasn’t changed. That said, the 1,000 to 10,000 BTC group has seen the metric just edge past the neutral zone, a sign that the whales are participating in some accumulation.

On the whole, though, Bitcoin holder behavior remains largely that of distribution. “Broad-based accumulation across wallet sizes remains absent, limiting the sustainability of upward moves,” noted the analytics firm.

Bitcoin has stayed down since its latest plunge as its price has continued to trade around $66,700.