Prices remain under pressure and sentiment is so weak one would think it’s 2022 all over again, but for the first time in nearly a year, bitcoin (BTC) whales are buying.

Following months of distribution as bitcoin surged to a record high above $109,000, so-called whales — wallets holding 10,000 BTC or more — are meaningfully accumulating as prices dip to just above $80,000, according to Glassnode data.

The last time whales were buying so aggressively was in August 2024 with bitcoin in the $50,000-$60,000 range as the yen carry trade was unwinding.

Often considered “smart money,” whales tend to buy during deep corrections and sell into strength — a pattern that has played out consistently over the past eight months.

Despite this renewed whale activity, broader market behavior remains bearish, with bitcoin currently down 25% from its all-time high. Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score, which tracks the behavior of different wallet cohorts over a 15-day window, shows that most other investor groups are still in distribution mode.

A score closer to 1 signals accumulation, while a score near 0 indicates distribution. With an overall market score of just 0.15, selling pressure remains dominant. This suggests that while whales are starting to buy the dip, broader market sentiment continues to lean bearish, potentially putting further downward pressure on price—at least in the short term.

Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest bank by assets, is exploring whether to issue its own stablecoin as regulatory discussions evolve and U.S. financial institutions slowly move into the sector.

The decision could hinge on how American institutions fare with their stablecoin rollouts, said Guto Antunes, head of digital assets at Itaú. At an industry event in São Paulo, Antunes cited the growing momentum behind blockchain-based settlement systems.

“Itaú has always had stablecoins on its radar. We cannot ignore the strength that blockchain has to settle transactions atomically,” local media quoted him saying. Stablecoins, for now, remain a “topic on the agenda.”

The renewed interest in stablecoins comes on the heels of a political shift in the U.S., where lawmakers rejected a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in favor of encouraging private stablecoin alternatives to preserve the dollar’s dominance.

In Brazil, regulators are conducting a public consultation—Consulta Pública No. 111—focused on how stablecoins might fit into the existing financial system. Antunes said the bank is waiting to see what rules the central bank sets before advancing any internal project.

Antunes also raised concerns about a proposed ban on self-custody in Brazil’s draft stablecoin rules. Brazil, it’s worth noting, has barred major pension funds from investing in cryptocurrencies.

«Tornado [Cash] is dead, but privacy won’t die,» an ether enthusiast said on X after Oxbow’s Ethereum privacy tools went live on April 1 to facilitate on-chain privacy while dissociating from illicit funds.

The sentiment is echoed by the early uptake for the privacy pools, which have processed 238 user deposit transactions, totaling 67.49 ETH in the first three days. The new tool has received a thumbs-up from Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, who was one of the first to deposit ETH.

These privacy pools leverage zero-knowledge proofs and commitment schemes to facilitate ether deposits and subsequent withdrawals, in part or whole, while breaking the link between deposits and withdrawal addresses. Think of it like having a specialized bank account to send money while hiding your identity or how much money you have.

The architecture comprises the contract layer for managing assets, the zero-knowledge layer to ensure privacy and the association set provider layer that ensures compliance by vetting funds.

The three layers work together to preserve privacy while screening transactions for links to illicit actors such as hackers, phishers and scammers. The screening is dynamic, meaning a deposit is accepted but later found malicious, it can be removed.

Privacy pools are non-custodial, ensuring users retain full control over their funds, allowing even rejected deposits to move back funds to their original addresses.

As of now, the deposit limits are set between 0.1 ETH and 1 ETH, with the promise to increase the same after the initial battle testing period.

«This is only the beginning. The road to making privacy normal again is long and exciting, and we can’t do it alone!” 0xbow said on X.