Bitcoin Crashes Below $65K as Whales Start Dumping

From $67,000 to $64,700 in 24 hours. Bitcoin's 5% weekend plunge tells a story that goes beyond the numbers—it's about who's selling and why that matters for what comes next.

The Panic Has Passed, But the Whales Are Just Getting Started

Glassnode data shows the worst retail capitulation may be over. Short-term holders were realizing losses of $1.24 billion per day on February 6th. That figure has now cooled to $480 million daily—still painful, but no longer panic-level selling.

Here's the twist: While retail investors step back, the big players are stepping up. CryptoQuant's "exchange whale ratio" hit 0.64—the highest since 2015. This means nearly two-thirds of all bitcoin flowing onto exchanges comes from just the 10 largest daily deposits.

Translation? The small fish have stopped thrashing, but the whales are methodically unloading.

What This Means for Your Portfolio

Whale selling patterns differ fundamentally from retail panic. Where individual investors sell emotionally, institutional players distribute systematically. Exchange inflows dropped from 60,000 BTC daily in early February to 23,000 BTC now, but the average deposit size has ballooned to levels not seen since mid-2022.

More concerning is the liquidity drought. USDT inflows to exchanges collapsed from $616 million in November to just $27 million—briefly turning negative in January. When stablecoin inflows shrink, it signals weakening buying power just when selling pressure mounts.

The Broader Crypto Selloff

Bitcoin's struggles are spreading. Altcoin exchange deposits jumped from 40,000 daily in Q4 2025 to 49,000 this year. Ethereum, Solana, and Dogecoin are all sliding as President Trump's 15% global tariff announcement adds macro headwinds to crypto's technical troubles.

The correlation with traditional risk assets remains strong—Nasdaq 100 futures are down 0.9% while precious metals surge, with gold up 2% and silver 5.6%.