Bitcoin Whale Wallets Hit 20,229 as Confidence Stays Strong

Highlights: 

• Santiment says Bitcoin whale wallets have hit 20,229 amid consistent accumulation.
• The increase in whale wallet counts comes as retailers continue to spread FUD.
•  Bitcoin’s price has dipped below $80,000 and is currently changing hands at roughly $77,000. 

According to Santiment, Bitcoin whale wallets have continued to rise, as investors accumulate the token amid market declines. New data shows that the number of wallets holding at least 100 BTC has climbed to 20,229, up from 18,191 a year ago. The increase represents an 11.2% spike in the number of large BTC holders. Based on BTC’s current price, these wallets hold roughly $7.7 million in BTC. 

Santiment described these large Bitcoin holders as wealthy investors, institutions, crypto funds, and long-term investors with strong market positions. In addition, the steady rise in these large wallets suggests that long-term investors have shown strong confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term outlook. This comes as retailers continue to display fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). 

The analytical platform explained:

“What makes this especially notable is that the growth in 100+ BTC wallets has continued during periods where retail traders have frequently shown fear, impatience, or skepticism.” 

📈 The amount of wallets holding at least 100 Bitcoin has risen to 20,229. This is a +11.2% increase compared to the 18,191 wallets holding at least this level a year ago.

🐳 This is a significant long-term trend because wallets of at least this size (currently ~$7.7M or more)… pic.twitter.com/FAlHLnD71K

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) May 18, 2026

BTC Spikes Slightly as the Crypto Market Attempts to Recover

At the time of writing, the crypto market is up 0.4% in the past 24 hours. It has a market cap of $2.655 trillion with a trading volume of approximately $94.478 billion. Bitcoin’s dominance is 58.2%, while Ethereum dominates at 9.71%. Bitcoin has also appreciated by a similar margin and is changing hands at roughly $77,200 with a market cap of $1.54 trillion and a trading volume of $40.3 billion. 

In the past week, BTC dropped 5.1%. However, it spiked 4.8% month-to-date and dropped 25.1% year-to-date. Coincodex’s data showed that BTC’s supply inflation is low at 0.83% with a medium volatility of 2.37%.

Fear & Greed Index continues to point towards fear at 28, while sentiment remains bearish. BTC is also trading below its 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and has been outperformed by Ethereum (ETH). On the positive side, Bitcoin has outperformed 62% of the top 100 cryptocurrencies in the past year, with 15 profitable days in the past 30 days. 

In a separate X post, Santiment reported that Bitcoin dipped back to $76,000 on Monday, leading to widespread FUD across social media. The on-chain firm added that recent data showed that there are more bearish BTC comments than bullish ones for the first time since April 21, 2026. It added that since crypto moves opposite to the crowd’s expectation, the new level of bearishness is a positive market sign for BTC.

Santiment added:

“As small traders sell off their coins as a reaction to this mild downswing, probabilities of a rebound are heightened while most people expect a further drop.”

📉 Bitcoin has declined back to $76.0K Monday, leading to widespread FUD across social media. Our data indicates there are more bearish $BTC comments than bullish for the first time since April 21st.

👍 Since crypto historically moves opposite to the crowd’s expectations, this… pic.twitter.com/WTn5TUjFg1

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) May 18, 2026

Institutions Continue to Acquire Bitcoin as Whale Wallets Attain New Heights

Despite Bitcoin’s decline, institutional interest in the asset has remained strong. On May 18, Crypto2Community reported that Capital B added 192 BTC worth roughly €13.0 million to its Bitcoin holdings. The company currently holds 3,135 BTC, valued at approximately €283.6 million, with a year-to-date yield of 1.82%.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy also announced the purchase of 24,869 BTC for $2.01 billion at an average cost of $80,985 per Bitcoin. The company has also achieved a year-to-date yield of 12.6% and currently holds 843,738 BTC acquired for $63.87 billion.