Bitcoin price has been stuck in a tight range between $78,000 and $82,000 despite strong institutional buying in recent weeks. Despite the historic purchases of spot Bitcoin ETFs and large companies, it is stated that the background of the horizontal movement observed in the market is BTC transfers made from large wallets of old periods that have remained dormant for a long time.
Corporate BTC purchases hit record high
Strategy company purchased 24,869 Bitcoins at an average price of $80,985 in the last week. While the total amount of BTC held by the company reaches 843,738, its total market value is at the level of 63.8 billion dollars. While the company’s CEO Michael Saylor gave a new buying signal on May 17, followers estimated that the company added another 15,466 BTC that week.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs collected approximately 19 thousand BTC in nine trading days in April alone. BlackRock’s IBIT product has achieved fund inflows of over $66 billion since its launch. ETF products purchased $630 million in a single session on May 1, and the total inflow reached $1.1 billion in the first two days of May.
After the halving, miners can now mine approximately 13,500 BTC every month. The monthly BTC demand of institutions seems to be approaching 50,000, turning the supply-demand balance in favor of institutions.
Reason for horizontal price movement: Old whale sales
However, despite this intense demand, the price has been hovering around the range of 78 thousand to 82 thousand dollars for weeks. According to experts, the reason for this situation is large sales from wallets defined as old whales, which have been inactive for a long time and accumulated BTC in the early period. According to the data of the analysis company Alphractal, individual investors made purchases on the net in 14 of the last 21 trading days; whale wallets were on the sell side. This situation is considered as a systematic distribution strategy rather than a collective profit realization or withdrawal from the market.
The fact that the price has remained stable despite ETF and company purchases is explained by quiet sales in the over-the-counter (OTC) market from old whale wallets. Thus, the supply pressure on the stock markets remains limited.
On May 11, a dormant wallet from 2013 transferred 500 BTC. Additionally, according to Whale Alert, in 2026, 72 percent of coins removed from wallets that had been inactive for more than seven years moved directly through over-the-counter transactions. In the period after the halving, a total of 38,400 BTC was moved from 47 wallets that had not been touched for five years or more. This amount is equivalent to three-month ETF demand.
In this process, ETF buyers act as exit liquidity for early Bitcoin holders. This balancing of supply and demand causes the price to remain in a narrow band.
Mini glossary: Over-the-counter (OTC) transactions are over-the-counter cryptocurrency transfers made directly between a buyer and a seller, often in large amounts. These transactions provide large transfer opportunities without affecting prices unevenly.
| Source | BTC Buy/Sell | Date/Range | Effect of Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy (company) | Bought 24,869 BTC | Week of May 17 | Increased market demand |
| ETFs | Bought 19,000 BTC | April 2026 | Increased fund inflow |
| old wallets | 38,400 BTC sales | until 2026 | Balanced supply pressure |
Price may increase when supply pressure ends
According to Alphractal’s analysis, once sales from legacy whale wallets end, there will be no meaningful supply left to meet institutional demand. It is predicted that on-chain metrics such as Liveliness, Coin Days Destroyed and Days at Profit will also follow the same trend at this point. Until then, Bitcoin’s fluctuating course in the $78,000-82,000 range seems to continue.
