Bitcoin’s price has cooled off after setting new highs earlier this month, slipping to $112,828 on Aug. 22, down 1.4% on the day and nearly 10% below its Aug. 14 all-time high of $124,128. Despite the pullback, market dynamics are showing an interesting contrast: while retail traders are stepping back, large investors known as whales are quietly buying more BTC.
Trading Activity Slows
The slowdown is visible in trading volumes. Daily spot volume dropped nearly 24% to $31.58 billion, pointing to reduced momentum. Derivatives are also seeing less activity. Data from Coinglass shows futures volume fell 16.7% to $66.17 billion, even as open interest inched up 0.3% to $81.43 billion.
This combination lower volume but steady open interest suggests that many traders are holding positions instead of actively trading, waiting for the next clear move.
Retail Buyers Back Off, Whales Step In
According to CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn, retail demand has fallen 5.7% over the past week. He described small buyers as “tourists” who often exit quickly when markets turn volatile. Maartunn also noted that Bitcoin has retested the $112,000 support zone twice in a short period, warning that repeated retests can weaken support and open the door to deeper losses.
But whales are taking the opposite approach. Another CryptoQuant analyst, Caueconomy, reported that large holders snapped up more than 16,000 BTC in the past week. Similar buying behavior preceded a brief rebound earlier this month, suggesting that some big players see the current levels as an attractive entry point.
On-chain data from Glassnode adds more context: many short-term holders who bought between $113,000 and $120,000 are sitting on small losses, with their Spent Output Profit Ratio hovering around 0.96 to 1.01. Historically, deeper corrections and eventual bottoms occur when this ratio drops closer to 0.9, indicating stronger capitulation.
Technical Picture: Support on the Line
From a technical perspective, Bitcoin is sitting on shaky ground. The price is testing the lower edge of its Bollinger Bands, often a sign of oversold conditions but also a warning of heightened volatility. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits at 42, leaning neutral but trending down. The MACD has turned bearish, and short-term moving averages are flashing continued selling pressure.
That said, longer-term supports like the 100- and 200-day moving averages remain intact, showing that Bitcoin’s broader uptrend hasn’t been broken. Other oscillators, including the stochastic RSI and Williams %R, hint at the potential for a short-term bounce if buyers return.
If the $112,000 support level holds and whales keep accumulating, Bitcoin could try to rebound toward $118,000. If not, traders are eyeing the next major support in the $105,000–$108,000 range.
Bottom Line
Bitcoin’s latest dip highlights the divide between retail traders and whales. While smaller investors are scaling back, larger players are taking advantage of lower prices to add to their holdings. The key question now is whether $112,000 can hold as support. If it does, Bitcoin may have room for a recovery but if it breaks, a deeper correction could be on the horizon.
