An analyst has revealed how 2025 has been the year of OG Bitcoin whales, with hands older than seven years spending more than ever before.
OG Bitcoin Whales Have Maintained A High Selling Baseline This Year
In a new post on X, Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards has talked about the trend in the Bitcoin distribution from the “OG whales.” These are the investors who have been holding onto their BTC since more than seven years ago, without having transferred or sold the tokens once.
Below is the chart shared by Edwards that shows how the spending from Bitcoin holders of this age has looked over the past decade.
Looks like the indicator has witnessed a sharp spike this year | Source: @caprioleio on X
As is visible in the graph, Bitcoin OG whales have shown several spending spikes of a significant scale in 2025 so far, with one spike being particularly massive. But even during low-spending phases, selling from 7+ years old investors has remained at a notable level.
This stands out in the red-shaded chart, which shows the OG whale distribution as a percentage of the cryptocurrency’s market cap. This metric has consistently registered a value higher than 0.05%, which is a historically high level. The analyst has noted that the recent trend reflects “more selling than any other Bitcoin cycle.”
One reason behind this cycle’s distribution outweighing previous cycles could simply be the fact that Bitcoin is only getting older with each cycle, so there is a bigger part of the asset’s history today that now qualifies for that 7-year cutoff.
As for why these investors have been selling, it’s possible that the bull run profits have been high enough for them to cash in. Something to keep in mind is that while entities with a long holding time are considered “resolute,” the same may not actually apply to these “OG” whales.
This is because when coins cross the 7-year threshold, there crops up a real possibility that they have reached their long age by being lost, rather than through high-conviction “HODLing.” The spending this year may simply be a result of lost addresses being rediscovered, either by the original investor or someone who happened to obtain the wallet keys.
That said, some of these investors waking up to sell now would indeed be stalwart diamond hands who were silently biding their time until now. In past cycles, Bitcoin usually hit a top when selling from these investors became extreme. Whether the same pattern will follow this time around only remains to be seen, but the latest bearish trajectory could be a hint.
BTC Price
Bitcoin dropped under $89,000 on Wednesday, but it appears the coin has already bounced back as its price is now trading around $91,800.
The price of the coin seems to have been sliding down over the last few days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView