Market "Discount Season": What Are the Whales Accumulating?

Whale accumulation does not necessarily mean prices will rise; it could also lead to future selling pressure. Please make sure to DYOR, follow cautiously, and strictly manage your positions.

Article author, source: Bitpush Editorial Department

Over the past month, Bitcoin has experienced significant volatility around $80,000-$90,000, and most altcoins have seen corrections of 15%-40%. However, this has been the most comfortable “private accumulation” window for whales. According to real-time on-chain data tracked by Santiment and others, whales are quietly accumulating in the following sectors, with accumulation intensity for some coins even reaching new highs for 2025.

1. Payments/Cross-Border Settlement: XRP Becomes Whale Favorite

With the SEC and Ripple reaching a settlement and the XRP ETF moving from expectation to reality, whale accumulation has been further stimulated. Over the past 30 days, XRP has seen the most dramatic net whale inflow among all altcoins:

Addresses holding 100 million to 1 billion XRP have increased by a net 970 million XRP

Addresses holding over 1 billion have increased by a net 150 million XRP

The combined inflow for these two groups exceeds $2.4 billion;

Exchange XRP balances continue to decline, reaching new lows since 2023.

2. Established Layer 1: ADA Accumulated Against the Trend

From November 24 to December 4 (12 days), Cardano (ADA) saw a rare “whale rotation buy”:

The largest holding wallets (over 1 billion ADA) began accumulating on November 24 and have since increased holdings by 130 million ADA;

Wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million ADA began accumulating on November 26, with an increase of 150 million ADA;

Both groups achieved net increases within days, indicating that even when ADA prices were near recent lows, large holders remained confident;

Whale cost basis is low—if the price can break $0.43, it could rise to $0.52; if it falls to $0.38, the bullish trend will weaken and reversal signals may fail.

3. DeFi Blue Chips: UNI and AAVE Accumulated Simultaneously

UNI: In the past week, whales have added about 800,000 UNI (worth nearly $5 million). After the fee switch vote passed, the top 100 addresses hold a total of 8.98 million UNI, showing strong accumulation, while exchange supply continues to decrease.

AAVE: In the past 30 days, whales added over 50,000 AAVE, bringing total holdings to an ATH of 3.98 million.

Common traits: TVL continues to recover + real revenue (fees) is rising, with whales positioning early.

4. Meme Coins: Overall Pullback, Selective Whale “Bargain Buying”

Main battlegrounds:

FARTCOIN: A single address accumulated 32.43 million coins ($10.7 million) in 24 hours

PIPPIN: Whales moved 40.45 million coins ($7.28 million) in 24 hours

PEPE: Whale holdings up 1.36% over the past 30 days, totaling over 10 million coins. In summary, both speculative and old money are entering; after liquidity dries up, a violent rally could happen at any time.

5. AI + Data: ENA and TIA Most Favored

ENA (Ethena): In the past 7 days, whale holdings increased by 2.84%, with the top 100 addresses adding over 50 million coins

TIA (Celestia): Exchange supply down 5%, staking ratio and TVL both hit all-time highs

AI narrative + modular narrative combined, making this one of the most certain long-term sectors this cycle.

6. Storage: FIL and ICP

Since late November, whale addresses for both FIL and ICP have seen large transfers out of exchanges, with active addresses and TVL rebounding in sync. The demand for decentralized storage from large AI models is materializing.

FIL: Over the past 30 days, whales added more than 100,000 FIL (worth about $50 million); exchange supply down 15%

ICP: On-chain active addresses up 30%, whales withdrew over 50,000 coins from exchanges; TVL rebounded to $120 million

Summary

Current whale strategies:

Dips are buying opportunities—the more it drops, the more they buy, with little regard for short-term price;

Priority is given to sectors with “real revenue” or “regulatory tailwinds”;

Meme coins remain a high-risk, high-reward “lottery zone”;

Long-term sectors (AI, modular, storage, privacy) are being positioned by whales 2-3 quarters ahead of time.

Risk Warning: Whale accumulation does not guarantee price increases and may result in future selling pressure. Please DYOR, follow cautiously, and strictly control your position size.