Here’s who actually bought Bitcoin’s $90k crash and who rage-sold the bottom

Strategy bought 8,178 BTC for $835.6 million as Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled through $90,000, locking in a $102,171 average that now sits underwater.

Harvard Management Co. reported 6.8 million IBIT shares worth $442.9 million in its September 30 13F filing, triple its prior quarter and the endowment’s largest reported US listed equity holding by value.

Both moves landed as funding rates dipped into negative territory, open interest unwound, and short-term holders dumped at realized losses. This profile typically marks redistribution from weak hands to balance sheets with staying power.

The question is whether that redistribution represents accumulation or just institutional knife-catching into a deeper drawdown. Strategy’s aggregate cost basis sits around $74,433, meaning the company’s overall position remains profitable despite the latest tranche going red.

Harvard’s disclosure captures only US-listed public equities and certain ETFs, not the full endowment. Still, the 13F line signals that a $50 billion institutional allocator increased Bitcoin exposure as the price fell.

Those are bets on mean reversion and structural demand, not panic exits.

Who sold the dip

Short-term holders, wallets that acquired coins in the past 155 days, realized losses in the selloff, a pattern Glassnode flagged as on-chain capitulation.

Retail cohorts tend to dominate this segment, as they buy rallies, lever up near tops, and liquidate when volatility spikes and margin calls arrive.

Funding rates on perpetual swaps turned negative at points during the drop, consistent with long liquidations and deleveraging rather than fresh short bets. Open interest across major venues declined, suggesting position closures rather than aggressive directional trades.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs hemorrhaged $2.57 billion in November through the 17th, the worst monthly drawdown since launch.

Outflows concentrate redemption pressure during US market hours, forcing authorized participants to sell spot or unwind hedges, which mechanically weighs on price.

The timing overlapped with Bitcoin’s break below $90,000, tying institutional rotation out of ETF vehicles to the same window when retail wallets realized losses.

That dual-source selling created the conditions for buyers with longer time horizons to step in at lower clearing prices.

Accumulation thesis

Glassnode’s data showed that wallets holding over 1,000 BTC added coins as smaller cohorts exited. The interpretation has limits, as wallet heuristics rely on clustering algorithms and labeled addresses rather than KYC identities, and positions shift quickly.

However, the net flow from short-term holders to long-term holder cohorts aligns with early-cycle redistribution patterns observed in prior drawdowns.

Onchain Lens and Lookonchain flagged wallets linked to the LIBRA saga buying Solana on dips, and a labeled “Anti-CZ whale” flipping long on Ethereum while holding large XRP exposure.

These are traceable moves, but the labels themselves rest on blockchain forensics and exchange-tag associations rather than verified counterparty disclosures.

They offer directional signals, consisting of smart money wallets adding altcoin exposure during volatility, but the thesis can reverse with the next funding print or liquidation cascade.

CryptoQuant’s CEO, Ki Young Ju, argued that whales exited Bitcoin futures. At the same time, retail held the bulk of open interest, a claim supported by venue-level data showing a trend of deleveraging.

Open interest fell and funding turned negative, consistent with long unwinds rather than whale exits per se. Attributing the move to specific cohorts requires extrapolating from aggregated position data that lacks real-time granularity.

The broader point holds: derivatives markets deleveraged as spot buyers absorbed supply, a dynamic that can precede either a reversal or a continuation of the downtrend, depending on whether spot demand persists.

Bull-trap counterargument

Spot Bitcoin ETF outflows removed structural demand that had absorbed miner issuance, tightening circulating supply through most of 2024 and early 2025.

Retirement accounts, RIAs, and wirehouse platforms funnel fiat-native capital into Bitcoin via ETFs. When those flows reverse, they pull a steady bid out of the market precisely as price weakens.

Strategy’s $835 million purchase and Harvard’s IBIT allocation represent meaningful size, but they don’t offset $2.57 billion in ETF redemptions if that trend continues into December.

Short-term holder capitulation and whale accumulation describe what happened during the drop, not what happens next. If ETF outflows persist and macro risk escalates, the clearing price can fall further even as sovereigns, corporates, and endowments add exposure.

Early-cycle accumulation and a bull trap can look identical in real time. The difference emerges over weeks as either durable demand stabilizes the price or another leg down proves the buyers wrong.

Strategy’s latest tranche is underwater, averaging $102,171, and estimates suggest roughly 40% of the company’s total holdings trade below cost. However, that figure isn’t documented in the filing and should be treated as attributed commentary rather than a disclosed fact.

The company’s aggregate profitability depends on Bitcoin recovering above $74,433 and holding there. If it doesn’t, the accumulation thesis becomes a case study in timing risk.

What decides the outcome

The 13F snapshots and on-chain wallet labels have scope limits. Harvard’s filing captures only US public equities and certain ETFs, not private positions, offshore allocations, or the complete endowment strategy.

Whale wallet clusters rely on address grouping and exchange tags that can misattribute activity or miss custodial flows. But the directional read that sovereigns, corporates, and endowments absorbed float while short-term holders realized losses fits redistribution if spot demand continues and ETF outflows stabilize.

If ETF redemptions extend into year-end and macro conditions deteriorate, the buyers who stepped in at $90,000 will test their conviction lower.

Strategy can average down indefinitely given its capital-raising playbook, and Harvard operates on decade-long time horizons that make quarterly drawdowns irrelevant.

Retail cohorts and levered traders lack that luxury, which means the next move depends on whether institutional spot demand offsets ETF outflows and whether derivatives funding stabilizes or tips back into negative territory.

The crash to $90,000 clarified who holds through volatility and who exits at the first sign of trouble. Whether that redistribution marks a bottom or just a pause depends on flows over the next month, not wallet snapshots from the last week.

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