Large Bitcoin holders have continued accumulating as prices remain under pressure, while Strategy separately returned to the market with a $369.7 million purchase. CryptoQuant estimates that whale addresses now hold approximately 3.06 million BTC, up from 2.87 million in December 2025. The combination points to significant buying by large holders, although neither signal confirms that Bitcoin has reached a market bottom.
CryptoQuant’s whale metric requires an important distinction. The dataset excludes exchanges, mining pools, exchange-traded funds and digital-asset treasury companies, meaning Strategy’s holdings are not included in the 3.06 million BTC figure. The analytics firm has interpreted the accumulation as consistent with a late-stage bear market, while cautioning that prices could still fall further. The data shows supply moving toward large non-exchange holders, not proof of an imminent price reversal.
Whale Holdings Recover From 2025 Lows
Bitcoin whale balances have grown for much of 2026 after bottoming near 2.87 million BTC in December, although they remain below their 2025 peak of approximately 3.23 million BTC. Accumulation accelerated when Bitcoin fell below $60,000 in June, according to CryptoQuant. The rebound indicates that larger holders have been absorbing supply during weakness, but substantial room remains before balances return to their previous cycle high.
Strategy provides a separately documented example of corporate demand. In its August 31 Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company disclosed the purchase of 4,603 BTC between August 24 and August 30 for $369.7 million, or an average $80,318 per coin. The acquisition marked Strategy’s first Bitcoin purchase since June after roughly 10 weeks without adding to its holdings.
The company financed the acquisition through its at-the-market equity program, selling 4,531,421 MSTR shares for $602.8 million in net proceeds. The same SEC filing shows $151.8 million was used to repurchase STRC preferred shares, $50.7 million went toward STRC dividends and another $30 million was added to USD Cash. Bitcoin therefore absorbed the largest portion of the week’s equity proceeds, but not all of the capital raised.
Strategy Bitcoin Holdings Reach 845,050 BTC
Following the purchase, Strategy held 845,050 BTC acquired for an aggregate $63.73 billion at an average cost of $75,412. That position equals slightly more than 4% of Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million supply cap. Strategy remains an unusually concentrated corporate holder, making its purchases meaningful for supply analysis even though they remain separate from CryptoQuant’s whale cohort.
Traditional financial coverage has also highlighted the scale of the return to buying. Barron’s reported that the $369.7 million acquisition was Strategy’s first Bitcoin purchase since June and followed a period in which the company had reduced or held its position. That makes the August purchase a reversal in Strategy’s recent treasury activity rather than simply another uninterrupted weekly acquisition.
The broader market signal should still be treated cautiously. Exchange withdrawals, whale accumulation and corporate purchases can reduce immediately available supply, but holders can later sell or redistribute those assets. What is confirmed is that large non-exchange Bitcoin wallets are accumulating while Strategy has independently resumed corporate buying; whether those flows develop into sustained upward price pressure remains unresolved.