As Bitcoin (BTC) topped $90,000, the strategy bought 8,178 BTC for $835.6 million, locking in an average of $102,171, which is currently below the surface.
Both moves came as funding rates fell into negative territory, unwinding open interest and dumping short-term holders with realized losses. This profile typically indicates a redistribution from weaker hands to stronger balance sheets.
Harvard University's disclosure covers only U.S.-listed public stocks and certain ETFs, not the entire endowment. Still, the 13F line signals that a $50 billion institutional allocator increased Bitcoin exposure as the price fell.
These are bets on mean reversion and structural demand, not panic exits.
Funding rates on perpetual swaps turned negative at points during the drop, consistent with long liquidations and deleveraging rather than fresh short bets.
The US Spot Bitcoin ETF recorded an outflow of $2.57 billion from November to the 17th, its worst monthly drawdown since its inception.
This dual-source sale created conditions for long-term buyers to enter at a lower liquidation price.
According to Glassnode data, wallets with more than 1,000 BTC added coins as smaller cohorts exited. The interpretation has limits, as wallet heuristics rely on clustering algorithms and labeled addresses rather than KYC identities, and positions shift quickly.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, claimed that whales have withdrawn from Bitcoin futures. At the same time, retail accounts for the majority of open interest, which is supported by venue-level data that shows trends in deleveraging.
Open interest fell and funding turned negative, consistent with long unwinds rather than whale exits per se. Attributing migration to specific cohorts requires inference from aggregated location data that lack real-time granularity.
bull trap rebuttal
Strategy's latest tranche is underwater, averaging $102,171, and estimates suggest roughly 40% of the company's total holdings trade below cost. However, that figure is not documented in the filing and should be treated as an imputed comment rather than a disclosed fact.
The company's aggregate profitability depends on Bitcoin recovering above $74,433 and holding there. Otherwise, accumulation theory becomes a case study in timing risk.
The crash to $90,000 made it clear who will ride out the volatility and who will exit at the first sign of trouble. Whether that redistribution marks a bottom or just a pause depends on flows over the next month, not wallet snapshots from the last week.
