Is Bitcoin’s $80,000 wall about to crack, or are whales ready to sell?

Bitcoin has dipped below $79,000 on Tuesday as buyers struggled to push the cryptocurrency through a significant concentration of selling pressure between $80,000 and $82,850.

The broader cryptocurrency market remained bullish, with the Fear and Greed Index registering 72.

A reading in this range indicates elevated investor optimism, although it can also suggest that market participants are becoming increasingly aggressive.

However, Bitcoin’s short-term whale holders are sitting on historically high unrealized gains, creating a potential source of selling pressure as $BTC consolidates.

Meanwhile, wallets holding Bitcoin for more than five years have become increasingly active.

Although the rise in movement could reflect some selling, analysts caution that many of the transfers may involve investors reorganizing or securing their holdings.

Short-term Bitcoin whale profits reach record high

Unrealized profit held by short-term Bitcoin whales reached a record $9.07 billion on September 4, according to CryptoQuant contributor IT Tech.

The reading marked the highest level recorded since the metric’s data series began in 2016.

Short-term holders generally refer to investors who acquired their Bitcoin relatively recently. Whales within this group control large balances, meaning their trading decisions can have an outsized effect on market liquidity and price action.