Whale Accumulation Suggests Bear Market Nearing End

Despite weak market conditions, large holders are continuing to accumulate Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP. This behavior is typically seen during the closing stages of a bear market, according to on-chain analysis by CryptoQuant.

Data shows that whales have been steadily increasing their holdings throughout most of 2026. For example, Bitcoin's whale balances have climbed from around 2.87 million BTC in December 2025 to approximately 3.06 million BTC. This is still below the previous cycle high of roughly 3.23 million BTC.

Similar accumulation patterns are observed with Ether and XRP. In fact, wallet data reveals that larger holders have increased their ETH holdings by around 1.8 million ETH while smaller wallets have been reducing their positions.