Recently, a strange phenomenon has been brewing on the blockchain.

The number of whale wallet addresses holding more than 100 BTC has been hitting new highs. Logically, this should be a clear signal of long-term capital continuously entering the market. But looking at the Bitcoin price? It’s stagnant, even appearing somewhat eerily calm.

What’s really going on?

At first glance, on-chain data does look impressive. Those wallet addresses with ≥100 BTC keep setting new records, and from various angles, it seems like large funds are quietly accumulating. But the price isn’t cooperating, and this contrast is quite perplexing.

Thinking more carefully, things aren’t that straightforward.

For example, some wallets are hoarding coins, but that doesn’t mean all hoarding activities can directly push up the spot price. Some large transactions happen off-chain, with digital assets circulating among institutions, never entering the public market. There’s also a portion of these holdings used for hedging risk rather than one-way buying — which certainly wouldn’t directly elevate the price.

Another overlooked perspective: new whale addresses often represent the re-consolidation of existing assets, not fresh funds truly entering the market. In other words, it might just be money moving internally, without an ongoing influx of new capital.

When structural accumulation meets structural selling pressure, and on-chain prosperity encounters market silence, these two seemingly contradictory phenomena can coexist. It’s not that the data is deceiving, but rather a reflection of the market’s complex operational logic.

The truly worth pondering point is this — the issue might not be “whether anyone is buying.” The question is: do these buying behaviors actually impact the spot price? Who currently holds the pricing power in the market?

In this cycle, the way the market operates may be completely different from the past. On-chain data looks impressive, yet spot prices remain detached. Behind this phenomenon, there may be a new market structure taking shape.