Institutional BTC holdings have reached an all-time high, when will the price break ATH?

Institutions such as BlackRock and Metaplanet are actively increasing their Bitcoin holdings, signaling a bullish outlook. However, due to the impact of tariffs and selling pressure from old whales, the BTC price remains below its all-time high (ATH). So, what do analysts think about this?

According to the latest data from SosoValue, the assets under management of the Bitcoin ETF by BlackRock have reached $77.62 billion, which means that the institution now controls 3.5% of the total Bitcoin supply.

It is worth noting that BlackRock surpassed MicroStrategy in less than two years to become the second largest Bitcoin holding entity after Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that at the current pace of accumulating 40,000 BTC per month, BlackRock is expected to reach a milestone of over 1.2 million BTC in May 2026.

At the same time, the Japanese listed company Metaplanet has also set a new record for holdings. The company recently disclosed that it purchased 2,205 BTC for $238.7 million, bringing its total holdings to 15,555 BTC. According to BitcoinTreasuries statistics, Metaplanet has entered the top five institutional holders globally.

In addition, several listed companies, including MARA Holdings and Semler Scientific, are also expanding their Bitcoin allocations, showing the continued preference of institutional investors for digital assets.

In stark contrast to the continuous accumulation by institutions, although BTC saw an increase of over 2.3% yesterday, it has still not been able to break through the historical high of $111,900.

Market analysis suggests that this phenomenon is primarily constrained by two major factors: first, the macro impact of Trump's tariffs on 14 countries, which took effect on August 1, causing a decline in market preference for risk assets; second, the continuous selling pressure from early holders, with data showing that in the past year, "Bitcoin whales" have reduced their holdings by over 500,000 BTC, a scale comparable to ETF net inflows.

Observers indicate that Bitcoin is at a crucial period of transition between old and new capital: on one hand, institutional funds such as ETFs are continuously entering the market on a large scale; on the other hand, the profit-taking pressure from early investors remains. This supply-demand game keeps the price fluctuating within a range.

However, the increase in institutional holdings may reshape market pricing, but in the short term, macro policy risks and whale sell-offs remain key factors that the market needs to digest and that influence price trends.

#BTC # ATH