Bitcoin Whales Hold Back as Retail Deposits Hit 6-Month High

Retail investors’ 30-day Bitcoin deposits to Binance reached a six-month high of $10.75 billion, nearly double April’s $5.5 billion, while large-holder whale deposits fell 36% since late August to $3.8 billion, CryptoQuant, an on-chain analytics firm, recorded. Retail deposits were 2.8 times whale deposits and $6.95 billion above them. A deposit is not a sale, but it moves coins to where selling occurs; the split suggests small holders may be using a rebound to exit at better prices, an inference from flow data rather than confirmed selling. The data covers Binance only, and Bitcoin fell 3.3% in 24 hours after the October U.S. inflation report, with whale deposits not rising since.