The four most famous international exchanges:

Binance INTL	OKX INTL	Gate.io INTL	Huobi INTL
China Line　APP DL	China Line　APP DL	China Line　APP DL	China Line　APP DL

Note: The above exchange logo is the official website registration link, and the text is the APP download link.

The selling of Bitcoin whales caused the Bitcoin reserves on mainstream exchanges to drop and triggered a drop to $8,900. As the weekly market opened, the Bitcoin price quickly fell back below $9,000, and BitMEX alone liquidated $30 million in longs. According to market data, part of the sell-off was due to crypto whales closing their positions, which led to panic selling by retail investors.

Whales (individual investors who hold a large amount of Bitcoin) have the ability to have a significant impact on the price of Bitcoin. According to on-chain data provider CryptoQuant, the recent sell-off indicates that the market is beginning to show a bearish trend.

Ki Young
Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, said: "A few days ago, Gemini's Bitcoin reserves reached a one-year high and then began to decrease. In the short term, this may be a buying opportunity, but from a macro perspective, the reserve trend seems to be declining."

Gemini Bitcoin reserves Source: CryptoQuant

The last time Bitcoin reserves suddenly decreased at this key price level was in February 2020, when Bitcoin reached $10,500. In the next six weeks, the price fell to $3,600.

Gemini Bitcoin Reserves Source: CryptoQuant

Why are whales selling?

There are three reasons why whales feel the need to take profits at current price levels. One is that the Bitcoin price has been rejected at $10,500 twice in the past 11 months. Other reasons are that mining difficulty is expected to see its largest increase since January 2018 and spot trading volume is declining.

For whales holding large amounts of Bitcoin, liquidity is key. If there are not enough buyers in the market and a large whale starts selling, it can trigger a cascade of sell orders and liquidations.

For whales, when spot market volume stagnates and futures market activity increases, it raises concerns about a rapid decline in the short term.

For example, on March 13, the Bitcoin price fell 50% overnight, falling below $4,000, as whales began to sell at high prices. This subsequently led to a massive sell-off that ultimately liquidated $1 billion in futures contracts, the largest single-day drop in Bitcoin history.

Whales appear to be closing in on profits after Bitcoin surged 130% in the past three months. By doing so, they are able to protect their assets and also hedge against the relatively small trading volume in the cryptocurrency market.

As with previous sell-offs, major investors may also view the current geopolitical risks and volatility in global stock markets as external variables that could affect the momentum of the cryptocurrency market.

As the US stock market plummets, inflows rise again Source: CryptoQuant

What will Bitcoin do next?

From a technical perspective, Bitcoin's recent trend is simple. Losing $9,000 will increase the probability of a drop to the $6,000 to $7,500 support level. Historically, $6,000, $6,400, $7,100, and $7,400 have been strong support levels.

Currently, analysts point to Bitcoin whales at Coinbase and Gemini as catalysts for the recent decline.

Mason Jang, chief strategy officer at CryptoQuant, tweeted: "Bitcoin exchange inflows surged again. A total of 15,597 Bitcoins have flowed into exchanges since 02:00 UTC on June 15. Whales at Coinbase and Gemini sold Bitcoin before the price of Bitcoin fell." 

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average and major stock market indices across Europe and Asia continuing to fall, a correction in Bitcoin could cause a strong reaction from investors during such an uncertain period. 

In the short term, investors will be closely watching whether Bitcoin can close above the $9,400 to $9,500 area.