According to Santimento, the accumulation of bitcoin by whales and recent profit-taking by retailers could be seen as a positive and lead to more market momentum.
Crypto markets “typically follow the path of key stakeholders whales and sharks and move in the opposite direction of small retail wallets,” he said on-chain analytics platform Santiment on Monday.
Whales and sharks are defined as the cohort holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC, while retail traders have wallets with less than 0.01 BTC.
Since mid-December, whales and sharks have accumulated a combined 56,227 BTC more, according to Santimento.
“This marked a local bottom for the cryptocurrency. And although the markets remained relatively stable, the bullish divergence from their accumulation had to produce at least a minor breakout,” it added.
Over the past 24 hours, “things have gotten even better” as retail traders are now taking profits with “the expectation that we are in a bull trap/fool recovery,” it said.
Santiment concluded that because of this dynamic, “we are more likely than usual to continue to see market cap growth across crypto.”
A Bitcoin breakout could be imminent
Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading mostly sideways for six weeks now, ranging between around $87,000 and $94,000 since mid-to-late November.
It is currently at the upper end of this range, after hitting a seven-week high of $94,800 on Coinbase in late Monday trading, according to on TradingView.
Related: Can BTC avoid bull trap at $93K? 5 things to know about Bitcoin this week
Analyst James Check observed on Tuesday that Bitcoin will start 2026 with a rally to $94,000, “but the real story is the massive redistribution of supply happening under the hood.”
He noted that “top bid” has rebalanced from 67% to 47%, profit taking has “fallen off a cliff” and futures markets are experiencing a short squeeze, but overall market leverage remains low.
Bullish phase of consolidation
“Bitcoin remains in a phase of growth consolidation,” Andri Fauzan Adziima, head of research at crypto exchange Bitrue, told Cointelegraph.
“Key upside resistance is at $95,000 to $100,000, with strong call option interest around the striking $100,000 January expiration. Current support is at $88,000 to $90,000; a break below could trigger a deeper correction,” they added.
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