SUMMARY: This Week in Crypto, W3 Sept 2026

Whales Sold 57,600 BTC While Retail Bought the Top. Who's Right?

• Whales Sold Into the Rally, Retail Bought It: Large-wallet share trended down over the past week while sub-1 BTC wallets accumulated from around September 10 — reversing the direction both cohorts ran for the prior two months.
• Two Bearish Catalysts, No Selloff: The Senate blocked the Clarity Act on Monday and Tuesday, and the Fed raised rates Wednesday for the first time since July 2023 — prices dipped shallowly and recovered.
• Upcoming Major Event: U.S. Midterm elections

Bitcoin sat near $78,000 at the time of the stream and Ethereum near $2,500, both below the levels they touched during an early-September peak. The Santiment team returned from a two-month break to a market that had rallied through a Cold Card exploit, a Trezor data breach, the Senate blocking the Clarity Act and the first rate hike since July 2023. The more interesting question is who has been on each side of that move. Through the summer, the read was retail selling into fear while larger wallets bought — but over the past week that has inverted slightly, with large-wallet share sliding while the smallest wallets accumulate into strength.

BTC reclaimed $80,000 and ETH $2,600 during the two months the team spent away from the desk, though both had eased back by the recording. Through the summer's FUD episodes the read was retail selling into fear while some larger wallets bought (excluding the 1k - 10k band.) That relationship has since inverted: large-wallet share has slipped over the past week while the smallest wallets accumulate. The even larger holders make the entire whale class net sellers, as you will see in a later section, below.