Bitcoin (BTC) traded near $61,100 on June 9 after sliding about 10% on the week, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) urged investors to stay calm even as analysts said a market bottom remains unconfirmed.
Trading firm Wintermute pinned the decline on US institutional selling and ETF outflows rather than panic. On-chain data from Santiment showed retail buyers absorbing dips while large wallets kept cutting exposure.
CZ, who stepped back from running Binance in 2023, addressed the slump, framing the Bitcoin price drawdown as temporary rather than terminal.
“Bitcoin won’t be ‘dead’ for too long. Don’t panic.”
His message arrived during the longest ETF outflow streak on record. With BTC down more than 50% from its October 2025 peak above $126,000, the comment read as an attempt to steady sentiment from one of the industry’s most-followed voices.
Institutional Selling Is Driving the Decline
Wintermute argued the move was led by US institutions offloading positions they built only weeks earlier. The firm said capital inflows have yet to return, making it too early to call a floor.
“With prior support gone, there’s not much underneath to lean on. BTC never spent meaningful time in the $50-59k range on the way up in 2024, so there are no real technical levels here. That leaves flow as the thing setting direction,” Wintermute analysts noted.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs had already logged their ninth straight day of outflows in late May, a streak Wintermute pegged near $2.97 billion through May 30.
MicroStrategy added to the unease by selling 32 BTC, its first disposal since 2022, which the firm called immaterial in size but symbolic in signal.
Macro pressure compounded the selling. The US economy added 172,000 jobs in May, more than double the roughly 80,000 expected, with April revised up to 179,000.
That strength weakened the near-term case for Federal Reserve rate cuts and lifted yields, a backdrop some traders read as an institutional exodus signal.
Whales Sell While Retail Buys the Dip
Elsewhere, Santiment analysts flagged a widening gap between small and large holders.
Wallets holding less than 0.01 BTC raised their collective balance by 0.36% over two weeks, while wallets holding 10 to 10,000 BTC trimmed theirs by 0.20%.
That split matters because durable bottoms usually arrive with retail capitulation, not retail conviction.
“That widespread surrender simply isn’t showing up yet.” Santiment indicated.
The analytics firm said markets tend to move against retail expectations and in line with whale behavior, echoing a recurring whales accumulate, retail vanishes pattern.
Bitcoin supply distribution by wallet cohort showing retail accumulation versus whale selling. Source: Santiment
Some long-term investors have started buying at current levels, viewing the risk and reward as more attractive on a multi-year horizon.
Still, that quiet accumulation looks different from the aggressive whale buying versus retail seen at past cycle lows.
With no clear sign of returning inflows and a difficult macro picture ahead of US midterm elections, the search for a durable floor continues.
The coming sessions may show whether whales step back in as buyers or leave retail to carry the rebound alone.
