Short-term holder whales sat on a record $9.07 billion in unrealized Bitcoin profit on Sept. 4, the highest figure CryptoQuant has tracked since 2016. The gains are highly sensitive to price swings, and Binance's BTC reserves are climbing toward a two-year high.
Bitcoin's newest large holders are sitting on their biggest paper gains on record, and CryptoQuant warns that scale of profit raises the odds of a sell-off.
Short-term holder whales sit on record profit
Short-term holder (STH) whale wallets — those holding coins less than six months old — saw their aggregate unrealized profit reach $9.07 billion on Sept. 4, the largest reading CryptoQuant has recorded since it began tracking whale profitability in 2016. The cohort's cost basis sits near $69,000, close enough to the spot price that small moves swing the total sharply.
That sensitivity showed up fast. The profit figure fell 17% the next day as BTC/USD dropped just under 2%, reflecting how much closer STH whales sit to breakeven than longer-term holders.
CryptoQuant frames the size of the gain itself as a risk factor. According to CryptoQuant: "Unrealized profit at that scale is exposure." The firm added that this cohort is historically the fastest to take profit once it becomes available.
Binance reserves near two-year high
The risk of selling is echoed on exchanges. Binance's Bitcoin reserves reached 691,658 BTC on Sept. 2, the highest level since November 2024, as inflows to the exchange have grown since the start of May.
CryptoQuant described whale participation in those inflows as relatively contained, but noted that clearing the elevated reserve base and pushing past $83,000 will need sustained spot demand from ETFs and organic buyers, a factor that has been missing from the market through 2026.
Source: Cointelegraph.com News
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