MarketsBitcoinAltcoinsEthereum
|3 min ReadWhales keep selling as analyst sees echoes of dot-com aftermath
Lucca Menezes
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Eight hours ago the market felt heavy again. Large, long-term crypto and Bitcoin investors kept selling into strength, capping price. Analyst Jordi
Analyst Jordi Visser said the setup reminds him of the years after the 2000 dot-com stock bubble, when prices crashed by up to 80 percent and then churned for a long time before reclaiming highs. Venture backers were locked up, then sold every rally the moment they could. “Many stocks were trading below their IPO prices. We have a similar situation going on right now. VC and insider investors, desperate for liquidity or redemption, sold into every rally. That's what's happened to me for Solana, Ethereum, for every altcoin, and for Bitcoin,” he said.
Visser used the 2000s to explain the sell-side pressure, not to predict a 16-year wait for crypto. He argued the consolidation is late-stage, with at most about one year left. The U.S. stock market took years to recover because large investors kept supplying stock to the market. He sees the same behavior now from whales and insiders across majors.
The US stock market took years to reclaim highs as big sellers capped rallies. Source: Jordi Visser
Is Bitcoin carving a base near $100,000?
Some analysts say Bitcoin is [bottoming near 92,000 if selling persists. Whales and long-term holders usually take profit into all-time highs. That is not bearish by itself, CryptoQuant analyst Julio Moreno said. It becomes a problem only when fresh demand cannot absorb the supply that long-term holders are unloading.
Long-term BTC holders are now selling faster than the market can absorb. Source: Julio Moreno
“Since October, long-term holder selling has increased; nothing new here, but demand is contracting, unable to absorb long-term holder supply at a higher price,” Moreno said. That is the crux. If new buyers step in, supply gets cleared and price can lift. If they do not, rallies stall and drift lower. It is classic market tape. Simple. Relentless. And everybody knows it.
Post-bubble playbook, crypto edition
The comparison to the post-2000 era is about behavior. Back then, insiders and funds used every bounce to exit. Prices stayed capped until the supply overhang cleared. Visser argues crypto is in that final phase. He sees whales and insiders selling Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and a wide range of altcoins into strength, just as they did with dot-com names. Once that flow slows and real demand returns, the lid can lift.
For now, the message is discipline. Watch whale flows. Track long-term holder supply. Monitor whether demand is expanding or contracting. If bids rebuild, the market can break out of the range. If not, expect more heavy air near the big round numbers. Tremendous upside comes after the sellers finish. Until then, it is a patience game.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.