Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
The recent cryptocurrency market has been volatile. Last week, the price of BTC dropped significantly, dipping to around $78,000; then, a tweet from Trump about "crypto reserves" caused BTC to surge 10% in a single day, returning to $95,000. However, the effect of "Trump's call" lasted only a day, and BTC fell sharply again this week, hitting a low of $81,000.
In the face of the erratic and extreme market conditions, even if investors manage their operations without incurring losses, their confidence in the market has almost been completely eroded. Even Michael Saylor, the founder of Strategy and a "die-hard fan" of Bitcoin, stated that "even if I have to sell a kidney, I will keep my Bitcoin," but honestly did not increase his Bitcoin holdings during last week's crash.
Although the sentiment in the crypto community is not optimistic, with many shouting "the bull market is over," a large wave of institutions and whales are still bottom-fishing. Odaily Planet Daily has compiled a list of institutions and whales that have engaged in bottom-fishing during the recent market downturn to boost the confidence of hesitant investors.
Institutional Operations
Although Strategy did not bottom-fish Bitcoin last week, many other institutions and companies chose to increase their Bitcoin holdings during this decline.
Metaplanet: Increased holdings by approximately 788 BTC after the crash
The Japanese listed company Metaplanet has been continuously increasing its Bitcoin holdings since the crash last week. Before the crash, the company's CEO Simon Gerovich posted that as of February 20, 2025, Metaplanet had acquired 2,100 BTC at an average price of approximately $80,905, totaling about $169.9 million.
After the Bitcoin price plummeted on February 24, Metaplanet increased its holdings by 135 and 156 BTC on February 25 and March 3, respectively. To purchase more Bitcoin, Metaplanet issued a zero-interest corporate bond worth 2 billion yen (approximately $13.4 million) on February 27. Additionally, according to Metaplanet's announcement on March 4, the company completed a large-scale exercise of stock subscription rights for Series 13 and 14 through a third-party private placement, raising approximately 12.97 billion yen (about $87 million), which will also be used to continue increasing Bitcoin holdings to strengthen its digital asset investment strategy.
As of March 5, Metaplanet's holdings had reached 2,888 BTC.
El Salvador: Chooses to increase holdings despite market downturn and IMF pressure
Since December 22, 2024, El Salvador has been increasing its Bitcoin holdings daily by 1 to 11 BTC; as of February 18, it had accumulated approximately 93.417 BTC at an average price of $98,579, holding 6,081 BTC.
However, from February 19 to February 24, El Salvador did not purchase BTC, but after the market dropped on February 24, it chose to increase its holdings, adding 7 BTC in the early hours of February 25, and then another 5 BTC when the market turned down again on March 4, bringing its total holdings to 6,101.18 BTC as of March 5.
At the same time, although El Salvador reached a $1.4 billion financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the IMF pressured the country to strengthen restrictions on public sector purchases of Bitcoin. On March 3, the IMF submitted several documents, including a technical memorandum that explicitly required the El Salvador government not to actively increase Bitcoin holdings and to limit the issuance of debt and tokenized instruments linked to Bitcoin by the public sector.
However, in the face of pressure, El Salvador's Nayib Bukele stated, El Salvador has no intention of stopping Bitcoin (BTC) purchases, regardless of what the IMF demands.
Boya Interactive: Increased holdings by 100 BTC after the crash
Boya Interactive is the largest publicly listed company holding Bitcoin in Asia. In 2023, the company's board approved a budget of $5 million to invest in cryptocurrencies, and in March 2024, it first disclosed holding 1,110 BTC, after which it continued to increase its holdings. During the recent drop below $80,000, Boya Interactive spent $7.95 million to acquire 100 BTC on February 28, with an average purchase price of $79,500. Boya Interactive's total Bitcoin holdings increased to 3,350 BTC, with an average holding price of $58,627, lower than Strategy's average holding price.
More institutions bottom-fishing during the downturn
In addition to the companies mentioned above, many others have chosen to increase their Bitcoin holdings during this downturn. For example, the Japanese listed company Remixpoint purchased 39.37 BTC for 500 million yen on February 27, increasing its Bitcoin holdings to 575.89 BTC; Bitcoin rewards financial service company Fold Holdings increased its holdings by 10 BTC on February 26, with an average purchase price of $875,000; and Nasdaq-listed American Bitcoin ATM operator Bitcoin Depot announced on February 26 that it had increased its holdings by 11.1 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 82.6 BTC.
Whale Signals
For retail investors, the buying actions of institutions or companies may not be as valuable as those of on-chain whales, as publicly listed companies typically include their held crypto assets on their balance sheets and hold them long-term, focusing on larger cycles. In contrast, on-chain whales tend to operate more frequently, focusing on smaller cycles or certain "certain opportunities," thus providing more guidance for retail investors. During the recent market downturn, many on-chain whales also engaged in bottom-fishing.
Many whales withdrew BTC from exchanges
When whales withdraw BTC from exchanges, it may indicate that they are preparing to hoard BTC long-term without selling. On March 3, according to Onchain Data Nerd's monitoring, even as the market declined, some whales still withdrew over 1,662 BTC from Binance:
bc1q0 withdrew 600 BTC (approximately $51.5 million). Over the past three days, he has accumulated 2,100 BTC at a price of $84,860 (approximately $178.21 million).
3PRHV withdrew 73.44 BTC (approximately $6.25 million), with an entry price of $85,188.
Galaxy_Digital withdrew 657 BTC (approximately $61.58 million).
377Cr withdrew 332 BTC (approximately $3.125 million).
At the same time, according to data disclosed by IntoTheBlock here, large Bitcoin holders also bought the dip after the market dropped on February 24, with wallets holding at least 0.1% of the circulating supply increasing their total balance by nearly 15,000 BTC, with purchase prices below $90,000, valued at approximately $1.28 billion.
Multiple whales still favor ETH
Last week, the price of ETH dropped from a high of $2,800 to around $2,000, with a maximum decline of over 20% during the week. "When the market is good, it doesn't rise; when the market is bad, it leads the decline," investor confidence in ETH was once again shaken, but on-chain, many whales still bottom-fished ETH.
The whale 7 Siblings is the "number one die-hard fan" of ETH, previously bottom-fishing ETH during market downturns. On February 25, according to Lookonchain's monitoring, after the market decline, 7 Siblings spent 28.75 million DAI to buy 12,070 ETH at an average price of $2,382; they then increased their holdings by 4,993 ETH on March 4, spending $10.36 million. As of March 5, according to OnchainLens's monitoring, whale 7 Siblings held a total of 1,169,015 ETH (valued at $2.53 billion) across its two wallets; during this downturn, whale 7 Siblings bottom-fished approximately 20,000 ETH.
On March 3, on-chain analyst "AI Aunt" monitored that the well-known market maker Amber Group's address also appeared to have built a position of 11,000 ETH, valued at $27.49 million, although this could also be a market maker reallocating funds.
However, two other whales have indeed increased their positions:
One whale, who previously made a profit of $33.67 million by "buying low and selling high on ETH," bought another 2,000 ETH (worth $4.1 million) after being trapped in a position. Since December of last year, they have accumulated 34,001 ETH (worth $93.63 million) at an average price of $2,753, and they are currently facing an unrealized loss of over $24.14 million.
Another whale, who previously made a profit of $14.26 million by buying low and selling high on WBTC, added another 2,000 ETH on March 5, valued at approximately $4.37 million; since February, this whale has withdrawn a total of 5,600 ETH from Kraken, worth about $13.62 million, with an average cost of $2,432.
Buy, Hold, and Wait
The secret to making big money is not in buying and selling, but in waiting.
Perhaps the difference between ordinary investors and institutions or whales, aside from the size of their capital, is patience. The recent significant fluctuations in the market have undoubtedly made many investors anxious, even leading them to doubt the continuation of the bull market. However, from the operations of institutions and whales, they have not panicked due to short-term declines; instead, they have aggressively increased their holdings at lower prices. They possess stronger information-gathering capabilities and more comprehensive risk assessments, and they have not backed down. Ordinary retail investors may consider following their lead.
A partner at Placeholder stated that maintaining patience is key when the sentiment in the crypto market is low. Many people choose to give up out of fear, but this is precisely the opportunity for investors. Every market experiences ups and downs, and a bull market will not rise in a straight line. Bitcoin and Ethereum have both undergone several significant corrections during past bull markets, yet they ultimately reached new highs. Therefore, we should not be swayed by short-term declines; only by changing our investment mindset can we truly profit from the market.
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