Bitcoin is locked in a tug-of-war at the $115,000 to $125,000 range, with whales quietly cashing out while retail investors cheer each revisit above $120,000.

Despite recent macro headlines and an altcoin rally that has stolen some spotlight, price action suggests the number one cryptocurrency is stuck in a distribution phase rather than building momentum for another push up the charts.

Whale Sell-Off and Market Dynamics

On September 14, pseudonymous market watcher Doctor Profit published a detailed analysis on X showing that the current price band between $115,000 and $125,000 represents a critical profit-taking zone for major holders.

According to him, in the last 30 days, big holders had offloaded as much as 116,000 BTC, worth around $13 billion, marking the largest whale sell-off since July 2022. His analysis also showed that spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have cooled to just 500 BTC per day, a sharp drop from peak levels recorded in late July and early August.

This dip in demand, coupled with the increased selling pressure from big holders, explains the OG cryptocurrency’s inability to break out decisively. Without steady institutional absorption, the supply glut has weighed on momentum, causing BTC’s value to mostly move laterally.

Doctor Profit’s assessment comes even as geopolitical noise failed to rattle markets. Over the weekend, Bitcoin held firm around $116,000 despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of steep tariffs on China and calls for harsher sanctions on Russia. Historically, such remarks have jolted markets, yet this time BTC barely flinched, suggesting traders could be more focused on liquidity zones than politics.

September Trends and Price Outlook

Despite its stagnation, Bitcoin is up over 8% in the last two weeks, per CoinGecko, trading at $116,514 as of this writing. If that performance continues deeper into the month, it could extend a rare three-year streak of positive Septembers, breaking away from a long-standing seasonal pattern where seven of the previous eleven Septembers ended in the red.

The asset has also climbed 5% in the last week and maintains a 93.7% superiority in its price from a year ago. However, it is slightly down 1.1% across the past 30 days, and only gained 0.4% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, trading has stayed range-bound between $110,870 and $116,705 over the past seven days, with $115,000 acting as a pivot point.

Its market capitalization stands at $2.32 trillion, but funds seem to be shifting into altcoins, with meme coins such as PEPE and DOGE posting double-digit weekend gains, to help drive down Bitcoin’s dominance to 55.7%.