Bitcoin Whales Are Downsizing, Is ‘Uptember’ Push At Risk?

Key Insights:

• Bitcoin whale holdings dropped to 488 BTC each, the lowest since 2018.
• The US Spot BTC ETFs added $332.8 million in new inflows.
• Charts show similarities to Bitcoin’s 2017 cycle with a breakout in view.

Bitcoin whales have reduced their holdings to levels not seen since 2018, raising questions about market strength in early September 2025.

At the same time, BTC ETFs pulled in hundreds of millions in new money while Ethereum funds saw heavy withdrawals.

Historical BTC price charts also showed a striking similarity to the 2017 cycle.

Bitcoin Whales Reduce Their Share

Large BTC holders, often called whales, began cutting back their supply over the past months.

Data from Glassnode showed that entities holding between 100 and 10,000 Bitcoin now controlled an average of 488 BTC each.

Notably, this marked the lowest level since December 2018 and a steady decline that started in November 2024.

Whales have long played an important role in BTC markets. Their buying and selling can often shift prices or signal changes in investor behavior.

A decline in average holdings suggested that some large wallets may have been distributing their Faircoins.

These coins might have moved to smaller investors or into the hands of institutional buyers through ETFs.

The trend reduced the concentration of Bitcoin among top holders.

While this could mean less dominance by single players, it also showed that some whales were stepping back during a key period for the market.

The shift came as institutions increased their exposure through regulated products, creating a new balance between traditional whales and new forms of large ownership.

BTC ETFs Show Clear Rotation

In a separate development, on September 2, Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of $332.8 million.

Fidelity Investments’ FBTC was the largest contributor with $132.7 million, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT with $72.8 million.

Other issuers such as Ark 21Shares, VanEck, Invesco, Bitwise, and Grayscale also recorded gains.

By contrast, Ethereum ETFs recorded outflows of $128.7 million on the same day.

Fidelity’s FETH accounted for the biggest loss at $99.2 million, while Bitwise’s ETHW saw $24.2 million withdrawn.

The split showed that investors were shifting capital into Bitcoin while pulling back from Ethereum.

Market data also shows that ETFs now hold about 7% of BTC’s supply, according to recent reports.

BlackRock manages more than 746,000 BTC, making it the largest BTC ETF operator worldwide.

The growing role of ETFs marked a major change in how Bitcoin was held, with regulated funds taking a share once dominated by individual whales.

Analysts described the movement as rotation, with investors adjusting their focus based on confidence and short-term performance.

For Bitcoin, strong inflows suggested rising institutional demand even as whales reduced direct holdings. For Ethereum, outflows pointed to caution among large investors at this stage.

Bitcoin Historical Chart Points Back to 2017

In addition, traders also looked at history for guidance as charts shared on X compared the 2017 cycle with the current setup in 2025.

In both cases, August and September showed similar patterns, with Bitcoin trading near key resistance levels after earlier gains.

The 2017 cycle saw a strong run-up after September before meeting resistance and later correction. In 2025, Bitcoin again faced challenges near the $110,700 mark.

Analyst Ali Martinez noted that the price had been rejected several times at this level.

If it failed to break higher, he suggested it could fall back to $107,200 or even $103,000 before pushing upward again.

The comparison to past moves did not mean the same result was certain. Market conditions had changed, with ETFs now holding a large share of supply and whales cutting back.

Still, the familiar pattern gave traders a frame of reference for what might come next.

Notably, whale downsizing, ETF flows, and technical resistance painted a picture of a market in transition.

Whether September 2025 would see a breakout or a pullback remained uncertain. More importantly, investors continued to watch both institutional flows and chart signals closely as the new month began.